A New World
by White Hunter
Summary: Three siblings who are on an island hopping adventure with their dad find themselves stranded on an unknown island that is inhabited by dinosaurs that were thought to be extinct for millions of years. Along with creatures that were thought to be myths of legend. Will they find their way back home or decide to stay on the island to reshape their new lives.
1. Stranded on a strange island

A New World

This will be a multi-crossover story of 'Dinotopia' along with a few of my favorite dragon movies that are added into the mix, along with some dragons from video games and books. I do not own any of the characters of these movies, books or games, except the characters that I've created within my head. This will be a multiple crossover story.

*8*

Summery

 _Three siblings who were on an island hopping adventure with their father find themselves stranded on an unknown island that is inhabited by dinosaurs that were thought to be extinct for millions of years. Along with creatures that were thought to be myths of legend. Will they find their way back home or decide to stay on the island to reshape their new lives._

Stranded on a strange island

A black SUV came to a stop near a four seated white airplane as the passengers within the car stepped out and began to walk towards it.

One of the riders of the SUV was a twenty year old boy who had dark brown curly short hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a short light blue sleeve shirt with a green hooded vest over top, greenish-grey long shorts and slip on brown shoes.

This was Karl Scott, a cocky young man who was excited to go on the airplane to do a bit of island hoping with his dad and siblings.

The second person to come out of the van was a twenty year old boy. He had light brown hair that had been shaved down and blue eyes. He was wearing a light green button up short sleeve shirt, light tan jeans and black shoes.

This was David Scott, the half-brother of Karl Scott and he was not looking forward to riding in the airplane for he had a major fear of heights.

The third person out of the SUV was the oldest among the teens. The man was thirty nine years old. The man was wearing a brown jacket over top of a white vest and grey shirt, light grey pants, dark grey shoes and black sunglasses that hid his grey-blue eyes. He had light brown hair that seemed to be thinning out in some places.

This was Frank Scott, father of the three children that he will be taking on the airplane as they go island hoping together.

The last person out of the van was nineteen year old girl with long sandy blonde hair that was tied up into a ponytail and amber eyes. She was wearing a dark blue long sleeve shirt with a white hooded denim vest over top, blue jeans and white/blue runners.

This girl was Tabitha Scott, the younger half-sister of the two brothers. Tabitha was slightly shorter than her half-brothers, but she's known to be quiet the spitfire when it comes down to someone getting on her bad side. Tabitha is stubborn and distrusting around people she doesn't know, and is not willing to give her trust so easily to anyone, unless the person was willing to work for it. But when people got to know her, Tabitha can be quite gentle, understanding and supportive to those she sees as her friends.

Tabitha was not happy that she had to spend time with her half-siblings and her father. Tabitha hated her father for dumping her mother before she was born. She refused to have anything to do with him when it came to having to stay with him after her mother passed away from cancer when she had been fifteen years old. Frank had taken her in after that and tried to bond with Tabitha, but the girl always closed herself off from him whenever he tried to make contact with her. Tabitha refused to call Frank her dad because she felt he didn't deserve to be her father after he left her mother alone to fend for herself when he found out she was pregnant. He also didn't help them after Tabitha's mother gave birth to her, and when they were almost at the end of their rope. Tabitha's mother trying to support the two of them as best she could, but other than that Tabitha's mother had been the strongest and bravest person Tabitha had ever known.

Tabitha's relationship with her half-brother Karl was no better either. Tabitha always found him over confident, annoying and stupid when it came down to him flirting with girls, quitting clubs that he signed into before he even started them, and cheating in school, while also skipping his classes.

Tabitha's relationship with David was alright to some extent as the two of them had slowly gotten to know each other over the years they spent time together. Their relationship wasn't tight, but Tabitha was always at David's side to help him in any way she can by coming to one of his science fairs and spelling Bees. In return David helped her when it came down to homework or just having a companion to talk to once in a while, so the two of them have mutual respect for each other.

"I hate flying," complained David as the four of them walked towards the airplane.

"It's going to be a treat David, we're going to go island hoping and you're going to love it, I promise." Frank said with a smirk.

"Yeah, just like the time you took us on that stupid boat trip," scoffed Tabitha with a glare.

"Let's just leave them behind dad, they're just going to be like this all day." Karl said as he smirk at his two siblings.

"I agree with Karl, I was happier reading back at the villa," said David.

"Whoa, you're agreeing with Karl on staying behind? That's a change," teased Tabitha as she playfully shoved David in the shoulder.

"Well you're not going to be sitting in your room reading David, you're going to be out doing something," said Frank.

Tabitha only rolled her eyes before she climbed into the backseat with David, while Karl and Frank took the front seats. Tabitha strapped herself in before looking out the side window with a deep frown on her face.

' _This is going to be the worst vacation ever,_ ' thought Tabitha angrily to herself.

Once the plane started up, it began to make its way down the runway before it lifted off from the ground, and into the sky. The plane flew for hours on end as Tabitha looked down at the islands that they were passing over with a bored look on her face. It wasn't until later that she grew tense when Frank took his hands off the steering wheel and let Karl take control of the plane.

"There, we're all set," said Frank as he leaned back in his seat. "Come on Karl, fly the plane."

Tabitha heard those words and quickly turned her attention to the front of the plane to see that Karl was now the one in control of the plane.

' _Oh no,_ ' groaned Tabitha inwardly.

She remembered what had happened last time Frank gave Karl the chance to drive something and in the end, Karl almost got everyone killed.

"Now it's very important that you keep your airspeed above a hundred and forty," instructed Frank.

"Okay," said Karl as he nervously gripped the steering wheel.

As he continued to fly the plane, Karl grew a little more confident as a smile appeared on his face.

"This is so cool," voiced Karl.

Frank looked over at David and Tabitha as he gave them a confident smile, while gesturing his right hand towards Karl.

"He's flying the plane," stated Frank.

"Yeah, I see," said David with a frown.

"You don't need to boast about your favorite child flying the plane, Frank." Tabitha spoke as she turned her attention back to looking outside the window again.

Frank stared sadly at his daughter, while letting out a sigh of exasperation before he looked forward again, and began to close his eyes as he leaned back in his chair.

"Wake me up in twenty minutes before landing," muttered Frank as he slowly began to fall asleep.

David and Tabitha, who quickly turned her head away from the window, grew worried when they heard that their father was going to let Karl handle the flying

"What?!" echoed both David and Tabitha.

"Don't worry guys," said Karl with a smirk. "I think I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, just like time when Frank let you drive the motorboat at full speed. Then you nearly got all of us killed by almost running into a bunch of sharp rocks," reminded Tabitha with a glare.

"That was only one time," argued Karl as the smirk disappeared from his face, while he continued to look forward. "Besides, nobody was hurt."

"I still don't trust you in driving a motorboat, much less an airplane." Tabitha muttered as she leaned back in her seat, while she glared at the back of her older half-brother's head.

"Can't you at least spend one day with us without trying to bite our heads off?" questioned Karl in a frustrated voice.

"I'm only biting at your head," said Tabitha with a smirk. "I have no beef with David since he didn't do anything to get us killed on that wild motorboat ride."

Karl growled before he decided to shut up or else he'd lose his concentration on flying the airplane. Tabitha continued to watch Karl with intense eyes as she made sure that he didn't do any reckless flying maneuvers, while their dad was asleep. After a while, the plane began to fly towards a group of clouds that seem to be growing darker as the plane flew closer to them.

"What is that?" asked Karl as he stared at the storm clouds nervously.

"What?" said David as he and Tabitha looked at their brother in confusion.

"That, do you see that?" asked Karl as he pointed towards the storm that was gathering ahead of them.

Tabitha narrowed her eyes slightly as a few lightning bolts sparked out from the dark storm clouds.

"I don't like the looks of this," voiced Tabitha as she looked over at David.

Suddenly, without warning, a lightning bolt struck the wings of the plane thus causing it to rock, while jostling the family members in the plane.

"Wake up dad, dad!" shouted Karl in a panicked voice.

Frank quickly woke up and saw the storm clouds. "Where did that come from?"

Frank took control of the plane again while David, Karl and Tabitha hanged on tight as the plane rocked and bounced around them. Suddenly, Tabitha thought she saw something outside the side window of the airplane within the storm clouds, but it was gone before Tabitha could get a good look at it. Tabitha cringed when the plane gave another jerk within the air.

"Hang on!" shouted Frank as he tried to steer the plane out of the storm. "I'm going to try and out run this thing."

"David, Karl, get your belts on!" exclaimed Tabitha as she helped David get into his seatbelt.

Tabitha quickly buckled herself in once she had finished helping her half-brother with his seatbelt. Once that was done, Tabitha braced herself against one of the seats of the plane as the aircraft gave off another sudden jerk.

"We're out of control!" shouted David in a panicked voice.

"It's sucking us in, hang on!" yelled Frank.

The plane continued to fall as it headed straight towards the raging waters of the ocean.

"Brace yourselves, hang on!" yelled Frank.

Everyone quickly threw their hands and arms up to shield their faces before the plane crashed into the sea with the front window cracking in the progress. Everyone began to panic as water started to fill up inside of the plane. Tabitha quickly undid her seatbelt before helping David out of his just as the water began to come up over their heads.

"Open the door!" shouted Tabitha before she took in a good gulp of air, and held her breath as the water completely filled up the cockpit.

Karl, after getting his seatbelt off quickly opened the door of the plane, and got out first before he began to help his half-siblings out from the backseat. Tabitha was first as she quickly swam out of the plane before David quickly followed after her as they swam up towards the surface. The two broke through the surface as they took in big gulps of air before they began to look around for Karl and Frank. Underwater, Karl was swimming back towards the plane as he tried to help his father escape from his seatbelt, which was jammed, but Frank quickly pushed Karl out of the plane. He did not want his son to suffer the same fate as him. As Karl quickly swam back up to the surface, a large sea creature began to follow after the doomed plane.

"Karl!" shouted David.

"Frank!" yelled Tabitha.

she tried to keep her head above the crashing waves as she looked for both her father and her other half-sibling. Karl finally surfaced before he looked towards his half-siblings as he saw them swimming a couple of feet away from him.

"David, Tabitha!" shouted Karl as he swam towards his siblings.

Tabitha and David quickly swam towards their half-brother as they met up in the middle with panicked expressions upon their faces.

"Where's dad?" yelled David.

Karl looked at his siblings with a sad look upon his face. "I couldn't get him out!"

"What are we going to do?" screamed David.

"We have to get out of this storm!" yelled Tabitha to her older half-brothers.

"Come on, follow me!" shouted Karl.

He began swim off in an unknown direction with his siblings following right behind him. Tabitha swam through the harsh waves with her half-brothers as they tried to keep their heads above the raging waters of the ocean. Once or twice, Tabitha was nearly pulled under by the water's currents, but she continued to paddle alongside her half-brothers until they finally reached calmer waters. They soon slowed their swimming pace as they swam towards an island. They were able to make it to shallow waters, where they were able to stand up and walk the rest of the way.

"Where are we?" asked David as he and his siblings walked through the shallows towards the island. "What is this place?"

"I don't know Davie, I don't know," replied Karl as he used David's least favorite nickname.

"Let's try and get our bearings once we're on land." Tabitha suggested as they continued to walk through the water until they finally stood on the sandy beach.

Tabitha collapsed to the ground and sat on her knees as she began to catch her breath, while her brothers stood. David leaned his arm against Karl's shoulder to steady himself, before he began let his thoughts catch up with him on what had just happened to them.

"Karl, Tabitha…what are we doing? We should have just stayed with the plane," said David.

"You're kidding me, right? We would have been fish food if we stayed on that plane David." Tabitha spoked as she gave her half-brother a hard look of disapproval.

"Tabitha's right David, we would have drowned," stepped in Karl.

"We just left him," said David as he was close to tears at the death of their father.

"I tried, there was nothing I could do!" argued Karl.

Tabitha sadly frowned as she thought about what had happened to Frank. She may have not liked the man who abandoned her mother, but she would never have wished for Frank to die a horrible death. Tabitha slowly stood up when she felt like she got some of her strength back before she looked over at her brothers.

"Okay guys, look…what happened, happened and there's nothing we can do to change it," said Tabitha with a determined look.

"You're right Tabitha," said Karl as he looked ahead of him to stare out at the island before him. "We should try and find some help. A phone…maybe there's a chance."

Karl then began to lead his siblings forward as they walked towards some cliffs, before finding a path that led them up to solid ground. Tabitha followed behind her half-brothers as she looked around at the scenery that was laid out all around her. The beach changed to tall green grass as the half-siblings walked, while the sun dried them as they hiked along to see if they could find any traces of civilization. As they were walking, Tabitha would once in a while hear strange bird calls from far away. After some time, Tabitha began to grow annoyed as she and her half-brothers walked through wide open valleys, and over rocks or boulders.

"Where do you think we are, oh mighty leader?" asked Tabitha in a sarcastic voice.

"I don't know," responded Karl in an annoyed voice. "All these islands look the same to me."

"I don't believe this!" exclaimed David "We've been walking for hours and…nothing. No people, no houses, not even a road to follow."

"Let's keep going, we're bound to find someone somewhere." Karl said as he led his half-siblings over a small flat rock bridge that stretched across a flowing river.

Tabitha let out a groan of annoyance as she followed her half-brothers, before she and David saw a giant rock formation on top of a high hill.

"Do you see that?" asked David as he pointed towards the rock formation.

"Yeah," replied Tabitha as they all stopped to look at it.

The rock shape looked like the head of a Tyrannosaurus Rex with its mouth hanging wide open to show off its jagged teeth.

"What the hell is that?" asked Karl.

"I don't know," replied David with a shrug. "But whatever it is, it looks kind of creepy."

No sooner had David finished his sentence a loud bang resounded through the air as a large explosion suddenly blew the whole rock formation up. The siblings quickly ducked to avoid getting hit by rocks from the explosion, before they slowly stood up when they heard someone coughing from inside the rock formation. They slowly stood up and looked towards the cave to see a man with a walking stick coming out of the dust and smoke.

The man looked to be thirty nine years old with shaggy light brown hair, and blue eyes that were hidden behind a pair of glasses. He was wearing a light brown coat over a white long sleeve shirt and red vest, grey pants, black boots and a large red satchel.

"Sorry, sorry my apologies!" called out the man when he fully emerged from the smoke as he began to walk down a step of rocks with the help of a cane. "Sincere apologies for the inconvenience, I uh…I have permission from the Volcaneum council to explore ancient sites in hopes of finding unusual sunstones. It's all in order, I have the papers."

"Relax old man, we're not the police or any kind of law enforcement." Tabitha said as she dusted herself off.

The man looked up after hearing Tabitha's voice, and was surprised to see her and her half-siblings standing before him.

"Well, well, well, hello there" spoke the man in a friendly voice. "Sorry, you gave me a bit of a fright there."

"Oh, we gave you a fright?" questioned David in sarcasm.

"I think it was the other way around old man," said Tabitha with a smirk before motioning over to Karl. "You gave my half-brother here quite a jump when you decided to blow up that creepy old cave."

Karl gave Tabitha a look of displeasure. "I wasn't that scared."

The old man looked at the three suspiciously for a moment before speaking again.

"Unless I'm very much mistaken you're something of a rarity huh, you've just arrived?" asked the man.

"Uh, yeah" replied Karl.

"Is it that obvious?" questioned Tabitha with a raised eyebrow.

"Splendid" said the man as he walked up to them. "I knew it, new comers."

"So…where are we exactly?" asked David.

"Oh, Dinotopia," replied the man.

"Dinotopia?" echoed Tabitha in confusion.

"Yes," replied the man with a nod. "Oh, you'll be the talk of the place. It's not every day we'd get new arrivals."

Tabitha and her half-brothers looked at one another in confusion at what the man had just told them.

"Dinotopia, where is that?" voiced David.

"Probably some uncharted place that hasn't been discovered on the map yet," suggested Tabitha with a shrug of her shoulder.

Karl soon stepped up towards the man to ask him a question. "Listen, can I use your cellphone?"

The man looked at Karl in confusion. "What?"

"You know a telephone," explained Karl. "We need to call a coastguard right away. We were in a storm and our plane crashed. Our father, he's missing. We've gotta get some help."

"Oh, you'll want a postal bird then, I'm afraid I can't help you there." The man answered as he began to walk with the half-siblings following along behind him.

"Postal bird?" echoed David to make sure he was hearing correctly.

"Postal bird," the man repeated.

"Are you saying like a postal hawk or pigeon?" asked Tabitha so that she was clear on what kind of bird they were talking about.

"It's a small blue bird with a red and yellow beak," answered the man.

"Oh, thanks, that makes so much sense to me," muttered Tabitha in sarcasm.

"So what were you doing up there anyway?" asked David curiously.

"Oh I was doing a bit of archology." The man replied as he picked up a rock to examine it for a moment before throwing it off to the side.

"Well you're the first archeologist we've met who uses dynamite," said Tabitha with a suspicious look upon her face.

"Well, I have a number of occupations to be honest with you," said the man as he stopped to take out a small metal flask from his jacket pocket. "I'm something of an independent spirit, which can get a man into a bit of trouble around here."

"You don't say," muttered Tabitha as the man took a drink from his canteen before offering it to the half-siblings.

"You fancy a livener?" offered the man.

"No thank you," said David with a wave of his hand.

"I'm good, thanks." Tabitha politely decline.

Karl on the other hand graciously took the metal flask as he sipped at the strong liquid that was inside it.

"Well, for what it's worth and at no expense cost, I offer you the eternal friendship of Cyrus Crabs." The man said as he introduced himself, while offering his hand out to shake the half-siblings' hands. "That's me."

"Nice to meet you," said Tabitha as she gave Cyrus a firm handshake before stepping back.

"Well I'm wasting my time here." Cyrus said as Karl handed him back his flask before the older man once again picked up his cane, and began to walk forward again with the siblings following behind him. "This place has been picked clean with a fine toothcomb."

"I'm guessing, whatever you're looking for, is valuable around here, huh?" asked Tabitha out of curiosity.

"Yes, you could say that," answered Cyrus before he changed the subject. "Anything you want to swap, rings? Watches?"

The siblings kept quiet at those questions that Cyrus had asked them.

"No?" asked Cyrus before he continued. "Well if it's any use to you youngsters I'll escort you to Chandeleur bus depot, I'm catching a bus there myself in about half an hour, fancy that?"

"Alright," said David.

"It's not like we have much of a choice," spoked Tabitha with a shrug. "Also, it'll be nice to get a ride, and not walk everywhere without knowing which way to go."

"Right then, follow me," said Cyrus.

"So, how big is Dinotopia?" asked David curiously.

"Not that big," replied Cyrus. "A couple of two hundred miles across."

"Two hundred miles?" repeated Karl in disbelief as Tabitha shared a look with David in confusion. "How come we've never heard of it before?"

"Or seen it on any maps?" added Tabitha with a frown.

"Well, we're a little bit cut off from the rest of the world," answered Cyrus.

"Okay, that's just weird," said Tabitha with a raised eyebrow. "How can a landmass like Dinotopia not be on any map? And why does it…"

Suddenly, Tabitha's words where cut short when she suddenly heard a rustling sound within the tall grass on her right. Tabitha stopped in her tracks to look at the grass suspiciously for a moment, before she began to follow after her siblings again. Tabitha was about to bring up her question again, but she was suddenly taken by surprise when something jumped onto her right shoulder.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Tabitha in surprise.

she began to flounder around in an attempt to grab at whatever had latched onto her shoulders.

"Tabitha!" shouted Karl in fear and worry when he, David and Cyrus stopped in their tracks to look back in surprise after they heard Tabitha's sudden cry.

After a moment, Tabitha finally grabbed the thing that had been climbing around her body, and held it out at arms-length with both hands. Tabitha's eyes went wide with shock and disbelief at the creature that she was holding in her hands. The 'thing' that she was holding was a scaly creature that was the size of a cat. It had two horns on top of its head, two wings and a small horn on the end of its nose. A row of spines went down from the back of its head all the way down to its tail, and the tip of the creature's tail was barbed like an arrowhead. The creature was dark green with red stripes going down its back with a few light red speckled spots on its legs. The claws on the creature's four legs were long and looked sharp. The creature looked at Tabitha with a curious look on its face as it stared straight at her with wide yellow eyes with black round pupils.

"Okay…what are you?" muttered Tabitha in confusion.

The only response she got from the creature was it sticking its tongue out and licking one of its eyes. Tabitha frowned at the creature as her brothers walked up to take a look at the creature themselves.

"What the hell is that thing?" asked Karl as he glared at the creature Tabitha was holding.

"It sort of looks like an iguana," answered David with a frown of confusion.

"That there scaly you're holding is quite a trouble maker around these parts," replied Cyrus as he stood a good distance away from the trio. "Not to mention that he's also a menace along with the rest of his kind."

"What do you mean by a 'menace'?" asked Karl as he turned to look at Cyrus with a worried expression on his face.

The creature quickly wriggled out of Tabitha's hands before it climbed up her left arm, and settled itself around her shoulders. Tabitha frowned in annoyance at the creature hanging around her neck like a scarf.

"Hey, I'm not a perch you little squirt," grumbled Tabitha as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Looks like you've made a new friend," teased David with a chuckle.

"Very funny David," growled Tabitha as she gave her half-brother a glare.

"Come along youngsters, we can't waste any time," called Cyrus as he began to walk again. "And you might want to leave that scaly behind otherwise it will only cause you grief in the near future."

"Sure, I'd be happy to get this thing off my shoulder," muttered Tabitha in sarcasm. "But the only problem is that this little squirt has a tight grip, and I'd rather not get scratched by his claws."

"Come on, Tabitha, how hard can it be to get an over grown gecko off your shoulders," said Karl as he stepped forward to make a grab at the creature.

The creature bristled when it saw Karl trying to make a grab for it. It let out a threatening hiss before snapping at Karl's fingers. Karl quickly withdrew his hands back in surprise as the creature glared at him for a second, before curling itself around Tabitha's neck again.

"I guess its' coming with us," said David with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Great, just what I need, a hitch hiker," grumbled Tabitha before she and her half-brothers quickly ran after Cyrus.

As they were following the old man, the half-siblings didn't notice a stone carved road sign with strange footprint markings etched on the surface of it as they walked passed it. The group walked, or in the little creature's case rode, for a while as they made their way through a couple of thick bushes before they came out into a small village. What met their sight had the half-siblings blink in shock and confusion. All around them were people working in little stands or walking around with baskets and carts, but there was one odd thing about the people that the half-siblings noticed. The people within the village were wearing different styles of clothing that looked to be from either the 1700's or 1800's.

"Ok...this is not something you see every day." Tabitha muttered as she and her half-brothers followed Cyrus through the village.

"Yeah," said David in agreement. "Look at this place. I mean these people. This is really…"

"Weird?" guessed Karl to what David was going to say.

"Well, no just…"

"You don't think this is weird?"

"Not as weird as seeing the moldy left-over food that you and Frank leave in the fridge for days on end," said Tabitha with a smirk.

The little creature on Tabitha's left shoulder let out a scratchy chuckle as Karl glared at Tabitha indignantly. The half-siblings then noticed the signposts that they were walking under.

"Look at the signs," said Karl as he pointed them out. "What kind of markings are those?"

"Beats me," replied Tabitha with a shrug of her shoulders. "They look like the footprints of a chicken or something."

Just then the half-siblings heard a loud noise echoing throughout the village.

"What's that sound?" asked Karl to Cyrus. "Was it an animal?"

"Scaly talk," answered Cyrus in an uninterested look.

"Scaly huh?" voiced Tabitha with a frown. "I wonder if it's one of Shorty's friends."

"Shorty?" asked David as he looked at his half-sister in confusion.

"That's what I named this little guy," replied Tabitha as she pointed to the creature on her shoulder. "I have to call him something other than 'it' all the time."

The creature, now dubbed Shorty, let out a croon as it looked at David curiously. David only rolled his eyes at his sister, and was about to say something to her when the villagers began to scream in terror. They began to run away from something that was coming towards them. Cyrus and the half-siblings turned around to look on in confusion at what was happening behind them. Shorty hissed from Tabitha's shoulders when he sensed that something was coming towards them.

"What's going on?" asked Karl.

They didn't have to wonder for long as the thing that the people were running from suddenly came stomping into the village. What the siblings saw was something that made their eyes pop wide open in shock and fear. Coming straight towards them was a creature that they thought had been extinct for millions of years…a dinosaur. The dinosaur was large and walked around on four short stubby legs. Spikes ran down along its back and sides, while a long tail with a thick large club at the end was thrashing around behind it.

"What in the world?!" exclaimed Tabitha in shock and fear.

"Come on!" exclaimed Karl as he quickly began to lead his half-siblings towards a couple of stairs.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's alright, calm down, calm down." Cyrus said as he calmly followed after the half-siblings.

Tabitha and her half-brothers quickly crowded on wooden steps that were built near a tall building. Shorty bristled as he grew tense on Tabitha's shoulders, while the half-siblings ducked behind the wooden railings of the stairs.

"Don't panic!" exclaimed Cyrus calmly as he came to stand beside the half-siblings.

Tabitha, Karl and David watched in fear and shock as the dinosaur rampaged through the village, while it knocked down the huts with its clubbed tail.

"It can't be," breathed Karl.

"It's a dinosaur!" exclaimed David.

"What was your first clue genius!" growled Ivy as she glared down at her half-brother.

"But dinosaurs died off millions of years ago," said David as he, Karl and Tabitha tuned to look as Cyrus for an explanation.

"If only my boy, if only," muttered Cyrus casually.

Tabitha frowned in annoyance before Shorty let out an alert squeak, and Tabitha quickly turned to see the dinosaur coming closer to them.

"Uh…guys. Don't look now, but it's coming right towards us!" exclaimed Tabitha as she grew tense.

"Yes, I think it's time to say farewell I think," said Cyrus as he made a move to leave, but stopped in his tracks as a girl that looked to be either eighteen or nineteen years old appeared from out of the crowd.

The girl had long curly brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a tan short sleeve jacket over a white shirt, light brown pants and dark brown flat boots. Around her waist was a brown belt with a leather pouch attached to the back.

"Oh, there she is," said Cyrus with a smirk as the girl stood in front of the crowd before she headed towards the rampaging dinosaur. "I thought she might turn up at a time like this."

"What? You know her or something?" questioned Tabitha suspiciously.

"You could say that," replied Cyrus.

"Who is she?" questioned Karl as he and David stared at the new girl in surprise.

Cyrus only let out a chuckle before he began to follow after the girl a few paces. "Come along youngsters, funs over."

"What's she doing?" questioned David as he Karl and Tabitha came out from their hiding place and stood behind Cyrus. "She must be crazy."

They continued to watch as the girl calmly walked up to the dinosaur, and spoked calming words to it. Tabitha watched with tense muscles, while Shorty hissed as he continued to watch the dinosaur with wary eyes.

"Is she nuts?" questioned Tabitha before she shouted out towards the girl, "Hey!"

"Calm down, don't worry about her," said Cyrus as he waved a reassuring hand at Tabitha.

The dinosaur slowly calmed down as the girl approached it before she knelt down to the level of its head. The girl slowly stretched her hand forward, and had it hover over the dinosaur's forehead. She quickly jerked it back when the dinosaur let out a sharp roar. When Tabitha heard the roar she frowned. The roar that the dinosaur had given off sounded like it was in pain or something. The new girl slowly moved her hand forward so that it once again hovered over the dinosaur's head when it calmed down. Everyone watched in tense silence before the girl slowly removed her hand from the dinosaur's head as it took a few steps back before opening its mouth. The girl looked inside the dinosaur's mouth to examine the flat teeth in there before reaching into the dinosaur's mouth and grabbed one of the teeth. With a hard yank the girl pulled out one of the dinosaur's teeth as it let out a roar of pain for a second before it quickly calmed down. The dinosaur let out a happy grumble and it began to walk away. The new girl smiled at the crowd as she walked toward them, while holding up the tooth that she had pulled out from the dinosaur's mouth.

"Toothache!" she declared and the crowd began to clap for her as she walked passed them.

Tabitha let out a whistle as Shorty quickly relaxed on her shoulder, while letting out a purr before Tabitha looked at both her half-brothers and Cyrus.

"That was amazing," spoked Karl with a smile.

"I'll say," said Tabitha as she placed her hands on her hips. "Is she some kind of doctor or something?"

"She's Dinotopian, twentieth generation," explained Cyrus as he answered Tabitha's question. "I'd love to spend time with you three, but I have a night bus to catch to Volcanium, very important meeting."

"Whatever you say," said Tabitha with a shrug of her shoulders before Cyrus pulled out a card from his jacket pocket.

"If there's anything you youngsters need, don't hesitate to call," said Cyrus as he handed David his card. "It's no bother at all."

David looked down at the card he held in his hand, and read the lettering on it, which was luckily written in English.

"Crabb's Curio's Waterfall City," David read aloud before he glanced back at Cyrus. "That's your store?"

Karl grabbed the card to take a look at it, but the card was quickly snatched away from him by Tabitha. She smirked at her half-brother for a second before she shoved it into her left pocket.

"The finest in antiquates," said Cyrus proudly. "Listen don't waste your time in the provinces go to Waterfall City." He then pointed to a booth that wasn't far away from them. "You can just pick up your tickets over there."

"Maybe we'll see you there," said Karl.

"Oh, you can be sure of it," replied Cyrus with a smirk as he looked around at the half-siblings. "I know future friends when I see them, cheerio."

With that, Cyrus walked away from the half-siblings with Tabitha frowning in distrust. She turned to look at her half-brothers with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not sure I trust that guy," spoke David.

"Me neither," muttered Tabitha as she crossed her arms over her chest, while Shorty let out a hum of agreement.

"Why not?" asked Karl with a shrug as he smirked at his half-siblings. "He's just some weird old guy with a limp and a few sticks of dynamite."

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase, 'looks can be deceiving'?" questioned Tabitha.

Karl only rolled his eyes at his half-sister before he took up the lead as they walked towards the booth that Cyrus had pointed out to them.

"I wonder if there's a map around here?" wondered David as they came up to the booth.

"I don't think that's going to be the problem right now." Tabitha answered as she looked up at her half-brother, while Shorty settled down on her shoulders and fell asleep. "The real problem that I think we are going to be facing is how we're going to get tickets. We don't really have any money on us to buy tickets here, and even if we did, we don't even know what their money would look like."

"Maybe they'll give us tickets for free since we're new comers," said Karl as they walked up the steps towards the booth.

But as soon as they got to the window of the ticket booth, a wooden gate that covered the window to talk to the man on the other side suddenly fell down and closed shut. Tabitha looked at Karl with a deadpanned look upon her face as she crossed her arms over her chest again.

"You were saying?" muttered Tabitha.

"It could mean that it's closed," said Karl with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Whatever you say, oh fearless leader of the half-siblings," grumbled Tabitha with a roll of her eyes.

Karl gave his half-sister a glare before David knocked on the wooden gate of the window, before he called out to the person on the other side.

"Excuse me. We're trying to get to a place called Waterfall City."

The gate to the window of the booth lifted up to reveal a small bald man wearing glasses and a green jacket.

"Waterfall City, the next bus is at dawn," announced the man.

He then motioned for the three siblings to step away before dropping the gate down on the window again. The half-siblings looked at each other in shock, and disbelief at what they had just heard from the booth manager.

"Dawn?" David gawked.

"Great, now what?" questioned Karl in exasperation.

"I guess we'll just have to find a place to sleep here for tonight." Tabitha suggested before she walked down the steps of the booth and stopped to glance back at her half-brothers. "Let's see if we can find anyone who will help us."

With that said, the half-siblings began to ask around to see if anyone was willing to let them stay at their place for the night. About several hours later the half-siblings decided to sleep on one of the platforms that stood next to the ticket booth when they had no luck in getting a place to stay for the night. The people of the village were kind enough to give them some blankets to keep them warm throughout the night, even though the blankets where a little on the ragged side. Tabitha was leaning against one of the beams of the platform as she gazed up at the stars that hung above her head. She was amazed at how bright they looked above her as they shined within the dark sky. Back in the city, Tabitha was always disheartened that she wasn't able to see the stars, because of all the blinding lights of the city.

' _I can't believe how clear the sky is here,_ ' thought Tabitha with a smile.

Tabitha's gaze was torn away from the stars when she felt something shift underneath her blanket. She looked down to see Shorty popping his head out from the blanket to glance up at her. Shorty let out a cooing purr as Tabitha smiled down at him, before she gathered him up into her arms and gently cuddled him.

"You know, for a small guy, you sure are warm," chuckled Tabitha as Shorty gently nuzzled against her chest.

"Glad you're enjoying that little thing's company," grumbled Karl.

Tabitha turned to look at Karl, who was sitting on the other side of David. David was sitting between his two siblings as he huddled underneath the blanket to keep himself warm from the cold that was seeping into his skin.

Tabitha only smirked at Karl from across David. "You're just jealous that I have something to keep me warm throughout the night and you don't."

Karl only rolled his eyes at his half-sister before nudging David in the arm.

"David, you asleep?" asked Karl.

"What do you think?" grumbled David to show that he was still awake, while he pondered about the day's events. "How can a place like this exist without anybody knowing about it?"

"You're telling me," spoke Tabitha as she held Shorty in her arms. "This place is mind blowing and we've only seen a fracture of it. Which makes me wonder what else is on this island."

"I don't know Tabitha," spoked Karl with a frown. "I don't have any answers, but what I do know is that we have to get out of this dump. Get to that city Crabb talked about."

"Waterfall City?" asked David.

"Exactly," replied Karl firmly. "We can get help there. Get search parties out, call home."

"Do you really think some place called Waterfall City is going to have telephones?" questioned David.

"What do you mean?" asked Karl with a frown.

"I think the rules here are different," replied David as he adjusted the blanket around him to protect him from the cold night air. "And we'd better start learning them."

"No, no, screw the rules, I'm not forgetting about dad!" said Karly angrily as he glared at his brother.

Tabitha glared at Karl at the mention of their dead father along with David.

"Nobody's forgetting about dad," said David. "There's just nothing we can do right now, not until we understand this place."

"No, I don't want to understand this place, I wanna get home!" exclaimed Karl stubbornly.

Tabitha let out a frustrating sigh before she decided to cut the ice between her half-brothers.

"Alright, look, right now we're all tired and it's been a long day for all of us," said Tabitha as Karl and David looked over at her in surprise. "I suggest we'd get some sleep and tomorrow we'll head to Waterfall City to see if anyone can help us."

"Yeah, hopefully we can find whoever's in charge there," added Karl in a hopeful voice.

The half-siblings were started by a roar that cried out from the jungle, but soon tried to settle down for a long night of sleep. Tabitha stayed up a little longer when her brothers fell fast asleep as she turned her gaze up towards the night sky again. She quickly made out some of the constellations that hung above her head. That was when she noticed a familiar star pattern in the sky, and smiled as she felt a gentle calmness wash over her. Shorty let out a chirp of curiosity at what Tabitha was looking at before Tabitha looked down at him for a second. She then pointed towards the star pattern in the sky.

"Look right there Shorty, do you see those group of stars?" whispered Tabitha as Shorty looked up at the pattern with interest. "That's the constellation Draco, one of my favorite stars patterns that I'd like to see in the night sky. My mother said I was born during the night when those stars came out. I always felt as if they were watching over me whenever I felt scared or alone."

Shorty cooed in fascination before letting out a quiet yawn. Tabitha chuckled before she adjusted the blanket around her, where it was now covering her shoulders and cuddled Shorty close to her chest.

"Goodnight, Shorty," voiced Tabitha as she let her eyes close.

She fell into a deep sleep with the warmth of her little companion pressing close her chest.

To be continued


	2. Attack within the Rainy Basin

A New World 

Chapter 2: Attack within the Rainy Basin

Morning soon came as the half-siblings, and Shorty made their way to the same booth that they had tried to get tickets at yesterday. The people within the village were already out, and walking around as they went about their daily lives selling food, and other items to their customers. Once Karl, Tabitha and David came to the booth, the man at the desk was already expecting them. Luckily they didn't need to pay for anything as the short man handed them their tickets.

"Cart eleven," the man told the half-siblings before pointing them in the right direction. "Better hurry, over there."

"Great, thank you," said David with a grateful smile.

"That sure was lucky," spoke Tabitha as she placed her ticket in her left pocket. "I thought we'd needed to pay for tickets on this island."

"As I said, the rules are different here," said David with a shrug.

Tabitha gave her half-brother a friendly eye roll before she spotted a familiar figure in front of them.

"Hey look, it's the girl from yesterday." Tabitha said as she pointed towards the girl that just finished buying supplies from a local trader.

The half-siblings walked up to her before Karl spoke. "Excuse me?"

The girl turned to look at the half-siblings when Karl spoke to her.

"Um…hi," greeted Karl with a friendly smile. "My name's Karl and these two are my brother and sister, Davie and Tabitha."

"It's David hi," David corrected his brother.

"And just to add another into the introduction, this little guy who, is riding on my shoulder, is Shorty." Tabitha added as she pointed to her little friend, who sat on her left shoulder as he gave out a chirp of greeting.

"Hello, my name is Marion," the girl said kindly.

"You we're pretty impressive yesterday dealing with that…whatever it was," said David.

"Ankylosaurs," Marion corrected David warmly.

"I have to admit you were pretty brave to handle a situation like that." Tabitha complemented as she placed her hands on her hips. "But, weren't you a little bit scared?"

"I'm training to be a leader." Marion replied as she began to walk through the crowd with the half-siblings following after her. "I must be calm in a crisis if I am expected to inspire others."

"That's a pretty big responsibility to have on your shoulders," said Tabitha with a shrug of her shoulders.

Marion only smiled at Tabitha before she took notice of the clothing that all three of the half-siblings were wearing.

"You're not from around here are you," she said as realization came over her.

"Uh…no, not exactly," replied Karl.

"We had an accident and we swam ashore," explained David before he showed Marion his ticket. "Now we're trying to get to Waterfall City."

"Oh, that's my destination," said Marion with a smile.

"Small world," voiced Tabitha with a smile of her own.

"Now I understand what's happened," continued Marion in a calm voice. "But don't be afraid, you're not the first. When you arrive at Waterfall City everything will be explained just as soon as you register."

Tabitha and her half-brothers stopped in their tracks when they heard the word 'register' come out of Marion's mouth. They quickly glanced at each other for a second then looked back at Marion.

"Register?" echoed Karl as Marion turned to look at him. "We don't want to register for anything, we just wanna get home."

"I imagine that so," said Marion as she gave the half-siblings a sympathizing stare. "This way."

The half-siblings followed Marion to their bus, and what they saw both shocked and amazed them. Towering in front of them was another dinosaur that was much larger than the first one they saw yesterday. The dinosaur had dark grey skin and an extremely long neck. Tabitha could only guess that the dinosaur's size was either twenty or thirty feet.

"Woah!" exclaimed Tabitha in amazement as they got closer to the gigantic dinosaur.

They walked up a flight of stairs as they came to the platform that was leveled with the dinosaur's back. On the dinosaur's back was a large domed shape compartment with seats that could hold at least six or seven people.

"This is the bus?" asked David as he, Tabitha and Karl stared in shock at the creature in front of them.

"He's a Brach," explained Marion with a smile.

"As in Brachiosaurs?" asked Tabitha as a large smile appeared on her face.

"Yes," replied Marion with a nod before continuing. "We'll be traveling with him across the Rainy Basin."

Tabitha noticed the armor plating being placed on the dinosaur's body along with her half-brothers.

"What's that for?" asked Karl curiously.

"Armor, that's to stop him from getting killed," explained Marion.

The Brach let out a gentle hum of delight as he glanced towards the people that were placing the armor on him.

"He says he much appreciates the protection," said Marion when she translated what the dinosaur had just said.

"You can understand him?" asked Tabitha in amazement.

"Once you've learned how to speak saurian, it just comes naturally to you," replied Marion with a smile.

Tabitha let out a hum of interest as she glanced at Shorty for a sec. She turned her eyes back onto Marion before she pointing to her little companion, who sat on her shoulder.

"Can you understand what he says?" asked Tabitha curiously.

"I'm afraid not," replied Marion gently. "You see, Shorty is a different kind of creature that my people and I don't know about, and can't seem to communicate with. His kind is very different from the dinosaurs that we have befriended on this island."

"His kind?" echoed Tabitha with a raised eyebrow. "You mean there are more like him roaming around this whole island?"

"Yes," spoked Marion. "Though we don't know where they come from for they always seem to disappear before we can make any kind of contact with them. The creatures will sometimes appear when we least expect it."

Tabitha frowned in thought before the bus driver called out to the people who were standing on the platform.

"The bus is secured. We will be leaving in five minutes, Waterfall City direct!"

With that said, the half-siblings and Marion took their seats with Karl sitting up front with Marion, while Tabitha and Shorty sat beside David. Shorty dropped down from Tabitha's shoulders, and curled up in her lap with a purr as he settled down to take a quiet nap. Karl glanced nervously at the Brach that they would be riding through the Rainy Basin before he glanced at Marion.

"He won't eat us will he?" asked Karl.

The Brach turned to glance at Karl, slightly offended at what he had just heard come out of the boy's mouth.

"Brach's are plant eaters." Marion informed Karl with a reassuring smile.

"Meaning that they don't eat meat," added Tabitha with a smirk. "I thought you knew that Karl."

Karl turned to glare at his half-sister in annoyance, while Shorty let out a little scratchy chuckle before laying his head down onto his paws. Once the rest of the passengers were in their seats the Brach began to walk forward. Another Brach followed after the first one as they started on their journey towards the Rainy Basin. There a two people riding two Parasaurolophuses as they escorted the Brach's to their destination. The ride to Waterfall City was a quiet, and pleasurable ride as the Brach's and their guard walked across the wide open plains. Marion spoke to the half-siblings as she explained their destination route.

"To get to Waterfall City, we have to cross through the Rainy Base, it's the domain of the carnivores," said Marion calmly. "We only cross when it's absolutely essential and then only in convoy."

Tabitha tensed when she heard the word carnivores and shared a look of horror with her brothers. They were journeying to a place that had meat eating dinosaurs living there?

' _So much for a peaceful and relaxing bus ride_ _,_ ' thought Tabitha sarcastically.

Marion turned to look back at the half-siblings to give the a reassuring smile. "But don't worry, we carry extra food to appease them."

"Appease them?" echoed both David and Tabitha.

"The carnivores aren't evil," explained Marian. "They're just hungry by nature."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better." Tabitha grumbled with a deadpanned look upon her face.

The Brach continued walking as Karl looked around the compartment that they were all in, before he turned his attention on Marion again.

"So, do you have any weapons?" asked Karl.

"We won't fight the carnivores," said Marian as she looked at Karl in confusion.

"He means if they attack us," clarified David.

"I understand," said Marion before explaining to the half-siblings. "Dinotopians don't carry weapons. Weapons are enemies even to their owners, third code of Dinotopia."

"Wait, you have a law that says you can't defend yourself?" asked Karl appalled by what he had heard from Marion.

"There are ways to defend yourself without using weapons," said Marion. "And besides, it's only one in five convoys that are attacked."

"Oh goodie," muttered Tabitha in sarcasm.

"Now just complete this hideous picture for us," spoke David nervously. "Exactly what kind of dinosaurs are we likely to encounter?"

"Tyrannosaurs Rex of course," replied Marion plainly.

"Of course," said David in sarcasm.

' _This is gonna be a long trip,_ ' thought Tabitha quietly to herself.

After that nothing else was said as the Brach's continued their trek across the plains, before they reached the boarder of the Rainy Basin. Tabitha tensed as she looked around at the dense trees of the Rainy Basin. Shorty also became tense when he sensed some distress going through his friend's body, and quickly woke up from his nap. He glanced around in worry when he realized where they were. Darkness began to fall as the Brach's walked half way through the misty jungles of the Rainy Basin. They suddenly came to a complete stop as they let out uneasy groans and roars.

"What's going on?" asked David as he and the others looked around in confusion. "Why are we stopping?"

"It's the Brach's, something's scaring them," said Marion.

The bus driver dropped a rope ladder over the side of Brach and began to climb down it. The half-siblings watched in confusion as to what the Bus Driver was doing.

"Where's he going?" asked David.

Tabitha stood up with Shorty on her shoulders as she looked towards the forest of the Rainy Basin. She saw a large group of trees lying on the ground as if something crashed through and knocked them down.

"What is it?" asked Karl curiously.

"Tyrannosaurs," voiced Marion.

Tabitha gulped before she followed her half-brothers and Marion down the rope ladder along with the other people. Once on the ground the group followed the Bus Driver, Padfoot, and Marion through the jungle, while Tabitha looked down at the three toed footprints that had been made by the tyrannosaurs.

"These droppings are fresh," said Padfoot as he looked at the footprints. "And the tracks, there are hundreds of them."

"I've never seen anything like it," spoke Marion as she gazed down in bewilderment at the tracks. "Tyrannosaurs never hunt in herds."

"These ones did," said Padfoot.

"Which only means big trouble for us," voiced Tabitha to herself.

She quickly stopped for a second when she noticed a set of footprints that were out of place. The footprints that Tabitha was looking at had four toes instead of three, and were a lot larger than the tyrannosaurs footprints. Tabitha bent down to get a closer look as she examined the footprint carefully, before her brothers and Marion came up to her, wondering why she stopped before noticing the footprint as well.

"What is that?" asked David nervously.

"I don't know, but I got a feeling that the Tyrannosaurs are the only ones within the Rainy Basin." Tabitha answered as she looked up at Marion and her half-brothers nervously.

Marion turned to look at Padfoot with a worried look upon her face. "There's a small outpost at the edge of the forest. We've got to make sure they're safe, come on."

Tabitha stood up and began to follow the group when Shorty let out a whimper as he stared around at the forest fearfully. Tabitha gently took Shorty off her shoulders and held him close to her chest.

"Shh…it's alright," voiced Tabitha as she gently stroked Shorty's back before she began to follow after the group.

Unknown to Tabitha, she was being watched by a pair of golden-green eyes that studied her with a look of curiosity, while it hid within the darkest parts of the forest. Another thing that Tabitha didn't notice was that there was another footprint within the mud, which was half hidden underneath a few fallen branches. The footprint wasn't that of a human or dinosaur, but a paw of a creature that looked slightly human.

The walk through the forest was quiet as the sky grew darker, both as night fell and as storm clouds began to gather within the sky. It wasn't long until the group came to where the outpost was, but what they saw was something that they weren't expecting. Before the group was a destroy and abandoned village. A few of the buildings were smashed into pieces with a few houses slightly burned by fires that had gone out long before the group came.

"Oh boy," muttered Tabitha fearfully as she, and the group journeyed closer towards wreckage.

"What's happened here? Where is everybody?" spoked Marion as she glanced around at the wreckage around them.

The group split apart to see if they could find any survivors before Marion stopped in her tracks, and looked down at a broken, black stone that was lying on the ground.

"Look," said Marion as she picked up one of the pieces of the broken rock and began to examine it.

"What is that?" asked Karl as he and his half-siblings gathered around Marion to get a better look at the strange rock.

"Is it some kind of precious gem or something?" asked Tabitha as she stared at the rock in confusion.

A look of horror came over Padfoot's face when he saw the rock. "The sunstone has failed."

"What's a sunstone?" asked David curiously.

"It's our source of power," explained Marion. "It keeps the Outposts and outer settlements safe, this one's dead."

Tabitha frowned in confusion at how a small stone like the one Marion was holding could keep an outpost safe from tyrannosaurs. Tabitha went stiff when she suddenly heard a loud rumble along with Marion and Padfoot.

"What happened to it?" asked Karl, not hearing the rumble.

"Quiet," said Marion as everyone grew still.

Marion knelt down and put her ear to the ground with Padfoot mimicking her movements. Tabitha placed Shorty on her right shoulder before she also knelt down, but instead of putting her ear to the ground she placed her right hand firmly down. Tabitha could faintly feel a soft vibration going through the ground, and frowned before she stood up, along with Marion and Padfoot.

"What's going on?" asked David.

"I'm not sure David," answered Tabitha with a shrug as she turned to look at her brother. "But I thought I felt a vibration going through the ground just now."

"It must have been the thunder," said Marion as she looked towards Padfoot. "We should get back to the Brach's."

"We can't" said Padfoot. "The next outpost is more than five hours away. The Brach's will never carry us through the storm."

"Well that's just peachy," muttered Tabitha in sarcasm as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Then we'll have to find shelter here," said Marion.

"I'm not so sure that's such a good idea," said Tabitha as she looked at Marion with a concern expression. "What if the Tyrannosaurs come back?"

"We don't have much of a choice here Tabby," spoke Karl firmly.

Tabitha sent her older half-brother a glare when he called her by her nickname. Tabitha wasn't fond of the nickname that Frank had bestowed upon her when he had taken her in. So if anyone ever called her 'Tabby', they would wind up getting their heads bitten off, along with a getting a good hard punch in the shoulder.

"Don't call me Tabby!" exclaimed Tabitha firmly as she glared at Karl. "Unless you're looking for a good whack upside the head?"

Karl only frowned at Tabitha before he and his half-siblings followed after Padfoot and Marion to a building that wasn't destroyed. Once inside, Marion and the half-siblings made themselves comfortable, while Padfoot went back outside to tell the other passengers about the situation. Marion was preparing some food, while David and Karl sat on one of the beds within the room. Tabitha sat on another bed with Shorty curled up on her lap as he slept without a care in the world.

"Would you like something to eat?" offered Marion.

"That'd be great," said David when he realized that he and his half-siblings haven't eaten anything all day.

"I could eat anything at this point," spoked Tabitha as Shorty lifted his head up at the mention of food.

"Yeah, I'm starving," said Karl as he stood up to look at Marion, "any chance of a stake?"

Marion stopped what she was doing as she turned to look at Karl in confusion. Karl decided to try something else.

"A burger or some chicken?" asked Karl.

Marion stared at Karl in disbelief. "You want a bird, to eat?"

Tabitha looked at Marion curiously with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you guys eat meat around here?"

"We only eat fruits and vegetables in Dinotopia," answered Marion as she pointed down to the food that she was preparing. "Do you eat meat?"

"My mother always told me to never lie so I have to say yes," replied Tabitha with a small smile. "But my mother also told me that I have to eat my greens as well. So I'm not really against eating fruits, and vegetables as long as it gives me a good and health body."

Marion gave a small smile back at Tabitha showing that she understood before she looked over at David.

"And you, do you eat meat as well?" asked Marion.

David grew nervous at Marion's question and quickly lied. "Me? No, no I'm a strict vegetarian."

Karl rolled his eyes at the lie his brother had come up with before picking up a strange fruit from the table. Marion walked up to David with a plate filled with some green apple slices. David thanked Marion before Tabitha, with Shorty riding on her shoulders, walked up and took a couple pieces of the fruit off from the plate. Tabitha held one of the apple pieces up to her little friend. Shorty sniffed at the fruit curiously before gently taking it from Tabitha's fingers, and began to chewed on it. Karl took a bite out of the strange fruit he was holding, before cringing at the taste that he experienced as he pulled the fruit away from his mouth.

"Oh, it's bitter," said Karl with a frown.

"You're supposed to peel it first." Marion informed him before she walked off to sit at one of the tables to eat her own meal.

"I see you haven't lost your touch Karl," said David with a smirk, while Tabitha and Shorty laughed at Karl.

Karl only glared at his half-siblings before walking off to talk with Padfoot. Tabitha and David looked at each other before they booth let out a quiet chuckle. The people within the building began to settle in for the night, while the half-siblings, Marion and Padfoot stayed awake for a little while longer. Tabitha was sitting at one of tables with David and Marion, while Shorty lay on top of the table's surface. They all watched in amusement as Karl taught Padfoot some fancy handshake from 'their' world, while Tabitha gently stroked Shorty's back.

"Karl has a restless spirit," said Marion as she observed Karl for a while before looking at Tabitha and David. "Has he always been this way?"

"I guess so," replied David with a shrug of his shoulders. "I've never really spent this much time with him."

"You're brothers, but you don't live together?" asked Marion in confusion.

"No, we hardly ever see each other," said David before he began to tell Marion everything about himself and Karl. "My father, he led a very active social life. Karl and I were born just a few months apart, while Tabitha was born a year apart from us, but we all didn't grow up together."

"Well…until I had to live with both Frank, that's the name of our father, and Karl," spoke Tabitha as she stopped petting Shorty, while a frown of distaste appeared on her face. "I didn't have a very good relationship with either of them, because the two of them are so alike, and Frank left my mother after he found out that she was pregnant with me. I was forced to live with them after my mother…died from a deadly disease that attacked her lungs."

Shorty lifted his head up to look at Tabitha, curious as to why she stopped petting him, and saw the sad look upon her face before he gently nuzzled his head against one of her hands. Tabitha blinked when she came out of her thoughts at the feeling of Shorty nuzzling her hand before she smiled. She gently began to stroke Shorty's head with him letting out a soft purr in the process.

"In the end I never connected with them," continued Tabitha with a sad smile on her face. "Karl was always the type of guy who would skip school or drop out of clubs that he signed up for. Frank tried to bond with me, but after what happened between him and my mother I didn't want anything to do with him. David was the only real person that I was able to connect with…somewhat. We don't argue very much and we've never really hanged out very much either, yet we have a bit of respect for each other."

"And I have to admit that you can be a little stubborn at times," added David with a smirk.

Tabitha playfully stuck her tongue out at her half-brother, while Marion gave out a small chuckle at their antics before a sad frown came over her features.

"I'm sorry about your father David," spoke Marion sadly before she looked over at Tabitha. "And I'm sorry about your mother Tabitha. She must have been a remarkable woman to have raised you all by herself."

Tabitha and David glanced over at Marion as small smiles appeared over their faces.

"Thank you," said David.

Tabitha only nodded her head at Marion before smiling down at Shorty, as her little friend nuzzled his head against her hand once again to comfort her. Suddenly, everyone heard loud screeching and chirping sounds outside as Karl and Padfoot walked up to the table to stand with David, Marion and Tabitha. Shorty let out a hiss as he became tense when he heard the creatures that had created the noise outside.

"Do you hear that?" asked Karl.

"They're harmless," answered Marion calmly, "creatures of the Rainy Basin."

Tabitha frowned as she listened to the noises that the creatures were making. She felt a sense of dread going through her before looking down at Shorty as he seemed to shrink in on himself in fear.

"Well something is making them panic," said Karl.

"Something is making me panic," added David nervously.

"You aren't the only one," said Tabitha as she gathered Shorty up in her arms, and cuddled him to her chest.

"We should all try and get some sleep," said Marion after a moment of silence.

With that, everyone went to their respective beds and settled in for the night. Throughout the night, Tabitha cuddled Shorty close to her chest so that her little friend could feel comforted by her presences. Tabitha was sleeping peacefully within her bed, but then she quickly sat up. She had been jolted awake by a loud rumbling sound that vibrated through the floor. Her sudden movement had also startled Shorty awake as well. Tabitha bit the bottom of her lip as she looked around the room to see that everyone was still asleep. But David soon woke up as well as he heard the same rumbling sound through the floor. Tabitha and David looked at one another as Shorty quickly crawled up onto Tabitha's shoulders.

"Did you hear that?" whispered David nervously.

Tabitha only nodded her head before she quickly jumped out of bed, and made her way over to Karl's bed, along with David, while making sure not to wake anyone else up.

"Karl," whispered Tabitha once she reached her half-brother's bed and began to shake him awake. "Wake up, come one!"

"What, what is it now?" grumbled Karl in a tired voice.

"Didn't you hear that?" asked Tabitha impatiently.

"Hear what?"

"We swear that we heard something," whispered David as he knelt beside Karl's bed. "There was like a rumble coming through the floor."

Karl let out a groan of annoyance. "Just go back to bed you two."

Tabitha frowned at Karl before Shorty let out a whimper as he huddled down on Tabitha's shoulders in fear. Tabitha stood up and walked around the room for a moment, before Karl was startled awake by the same loud sound that David and Tabitha had heard just a few moments ago.

"Now were you able to hear that?" questioned Tabitha with a glare.

Karl slowly stood up from his bed, with David standing up as well. "Let's check it out."

The half-siblings slowly made their way towards one of the windows as Karl looked outside to see what was causing the noise. Tabitha and David stood back as they wait to hear what Karl would say, but after a tense moment David asked.

"What? Can you see anything?"

Karl only frowned before he turned to look back at Tabitha and David with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Nah, nothing but jungle out there," replied Karl.

Tabitha frowned as she watched her two half-brothers walk away from the window. She walked over to the window to see if she could see anything out there. Tabitha didn't listen to her brothers' conversation as she stared intently at the jungle for a while. Lightning flashed across the sky and for a moment she thought she saw something moving among the trees. It disappeared after that, but Tabitha couldn't help but feel like something was about to happen. That was when a deep baritone voice suddenly shouted within her head.

" _Hurry, run, they're coming!_ "

Tabitha was started for a moment, but quickly turned towards her brothers and shouted loudly for everyone to hear her.

"Wake up, we've got to get out of here now!" exclaimed Tabitha.

Marion and Padfoot shot up from their beds in surprise, while David and Karl looked at their sister in confusion. That was when chaos erupted within the building. After Tabitha's outburst, the ceiling within the building came crashing down on them, which had been caused by a giant three toed foot. The foot was accompanied by a loud roar as everyone jumped out of the way from being crushed by the owner of the foot.

"Outside, run!" shouted Marion as everyone quickly shot out of the building.

The other passengers who had heard the commotion quickly ran out of their shelters as well. Tabitha and her brothers followed Marion as she led them to one of the broken down buildings.

"Quickly, over here!" shouted Marion.

The foursome quickly pressed their backs against the wall to catch their breath. They remained quiet, along with Shorty as he sat tensely on Tabitha's shoulders. Tabitha watched in horror when she saw the giant mouth of a tyrannosaurs through the large crack of the destroyed building. Nobody moved as two other tyrannosaurs wandered around the destroyed outpost in search for the passengers. Suddenly there was a loud roar as the tyrannosaurs knocked down the building that Marion and the half-siblings were hiding in. The foursome quickly got out of there and started to run for their lives. One of the other Tyrannosaurs spotted them and gave chase, determined not to lose their next meal.

"Keep going!" shouted David.

"Run as fast as you can!" yelled Tabitha.

The foursome pushed their legs to the limit as they tried to escape their pursuer, but Marion soon tripped and fell to the ground. Tabitha and her brothers quickly stopped in their tracks as they turned in horror to see one of the tyrannosaurs standing over Marion with a hungry look within its eyes.

"Marion!" shouted Karl.

Tabitha quickly handed Shorty over to David before she ran back to where Marion laid paralyzed with fear on the ground.

"Tabitha no!" shouted David.

Tabitha didn't hear her brother as she quickly snatched up a large thick stone from the ground, before creating a wide berth around the Tyrannosaurs. Tabitha quickly chucked the stone at the dinosaur, which landed a direct hit on the Tyrannosaurs left eye. The meat eater let out a roar of pain before it turned its head towards Tabitha in anger.

"Hey, ugly, over here!" shouted Tabitha as she taunted the Tyrannosaurs. "Come and get me you over grown reptile!"

The Tyrannosaurs let out a roar of anger before it began to run after Tabitha, who quickly turned towards the forest of the Rainy Basin. Tabitha panted as she ran for her life, while the Tyrannosaurs chased her towards one of the thicker parts of the forest.

' _That's right, follow me you stupid lizard,_ ' thought Tabitha as she neared her destination.

But she quickly stopped in her tracks when another one of the Tyrannosaurs cut her off from her escape. Tabitha froze in horror as she stared up at the creature that was now going to kill her. The Tyrannosaurs let out a snarl before it lunged forward to snap its jaws down on Tabitha. But it never got the chance as out of nowhere a loud whistling sound suddenly echoed throughout the air. The loud noise made the Tyrannosaurus pause for a second before it looked up in confusion. Then, without warning, a medium sized blue ball of fire appeared from out of the sky, and struck the Tyrannosaurus that was going to eat Tabitha in the side. Upon impact the ball of fire exploded with a bang. The Tyrannosaurus let out a cry of pain before it fell to the ground with a thud. The other Tyrannosaurs that had been chasing Tabitha stood in shock at what had happened. The same whistle sounded again as another blue ball of fire struck the Tyrannosaurs in the side of its head. The same result happened as the second Tyrannosaurs also fell to the ground. Tabitha stood where she was as she stared in utter astonishment at what had just happened. She quickly got her wits together and ran back to her brothers and Marion. David quickly pulled his half-sister to his side as they all looked at the Tyrannosauruses that fell to the ground. Marion stood with the group as she watched in shock, and confusion at what had just happened before her eyes. Karl, David and Tabitha also stared, while Shorty hopped onto Tabitha's shoulder as he let out small chirps, and hisses to voice his own confusion. Weakly, the two tyrannosauruses slowly staggered to their feet, and the group saw the chard skin where the balls of fire have impacted. The Tyrannosauruses looked up towards the sky in fear and confusion. Suddenly a giant winged dinosaur flew out of the sky and zipped between the two Tyrannosauruses. The Tyrannosauruses let out roars of anger as they snapped at the winged dinosaurs that flew close to their jaws. Tabitha watched the winged dinosaur in amazement, before it was accompanied by many more winged dinosaurs that flew around the Tyrannosauruses.

"What on earth…"voiced Tabitha.

Shorty chirped from her shoulder as the two of them gazed up at the creatures in awe and confusion. Marion smiled when she saw the winged dinosaurs flying above them before she spoke to the half siblings.

"Don't worry," she said with reassurance. "Their Skybax, they're here to help us."

"Skybax?" echoed Tabitha in confusion.

She continued to stare up at the winged dinosaurs for a bit before, she noticed that there were people riding on the dinosaurs' backs. The winged dinosaurs continued to dive-bomb the tyrannosauruses for a while until the carnivores were overwhelmed, and began to run out of the abandoned outpost. Once all of the tyrannosauruses ran back into the underbrush of the Rainy Basin, one of the winged dinosaurs began to fly down from the sky. Landing on the ground six feet away in front of the three half-siblings and Marion. Its rider dismounted from the winged dinosaur, and walked up to the group with the visor of his helmet pushed up to reveal his face.

The rider was wearing a red uniform with armor attached to his back, and Tabitha saw that the man was dark skinned. She could only guess that the rider was African American and that he must be in his thirties. The man's face was firm and he held an aura of firm authority.

"I am Oonu," spoke the man in a monotone voice. "Squadron leader of Skybax corps."

"I think you've just saved our lives," said David as he let Tabitha stepped a few inches away from him.

"Yes, this time you were lucky," said Oonu firmly.

"Lucky or not, you still came by at the nick of time to save all of us." Tabitha said as she turned to look behind her to see the rest of the other passengers, who had all survived the T-Rex attack, before turning back to look at Oonu. "Otherwise we all would have been a midnight snack for those Tyrannosauruses."

Oonu turned to look at Tabitha as he gave her a firm nod before he turned to look at the rest of the other passengers.

"I'm going to recommend this bus survives be suspended until further notice," said Oonu.

Karl was staring at the large winged dinosaur that was waiting for his partner in awe and began to walk towards it.

"We cannot guarantee the safety of the passengers…you, stop" said Oonu as he stopped Karl from approaching the winged dinosaur. "No one, but a rider ever approaches a Skybax. These are not, tame birds. If you value your life, stand back."

Karl quickly stood back beside Marion and his half-siblings, before Oonu continued speaking to them.

"I will provided you with an aerial escort for the rest of your journey," finished Oonu and he began to take a step back when Marion spoke.

"What happened to everybody here?" she asked.

"We've rescued the rest of the staff earlier just before the storm broke out," answered Oonu solemnly. "But three people and their triceratops patrol are still missing. As yet we've had no sightings…I fear they are dead."

Tabitha sadly frowned at this information as she looked at Shorty, who let out a sad purr as he turned to look at her as well.

' _Those pour guys,_ ' thought Tabitha. ' _The Tyrannosauruses must have gotten to them before the Skybax riders could help them._ '

Oonu than spoke again with firmness in his voice. "Okay, let's go!"

Everyone within the bus group began to make their way back to the Brach's with the hope of not seeing those Tyrannosauruses again, but Tabitha's thoughts weren't on the Tyrannosauruses. Her thoughts were more towards the blue balls of fire that had just saved her from the carnivores that had almost made a meal out of her.

' _But…where did those two blue balls of fire come from?_ ' thought Tabitha to herself.

Tabitha paused in her walking to look up towards the sky from where the fireballs had come from. For a moment, she thought she saw some kind of black shadow flying through the clouds. She thought it looked like one of the dinosaur birds that had saved her and the other passengers a few moments ago. But before she could get a good look at it the shadow disappeared into the storm clouds. Shorty let out a chirp as he curled himself around Tabitha's neck before nuzzling against her chin.

' _Just what is going on here?_ ' thought Tabitha once again before she heard her half-brothers calling for her.

Tabitha quickly ran after the group as they all headed back to the Brachiosauruses, not knowing that she was once again being watched. But by a different pair of eyes that were golden with blue around the pupils. The owner of those eyes watched Tabitha intently for a moment before they disappeared into the shadows of the Rainy Basin.

To be continued

So just to let you all know, dragons aren't going to be the only beings that will be in this story. But I'm not going to spoil the surprise for you all just yet. You'll just have to keep reading to find out what will happen next.

White Hunter, howling out to you and creativity!


	3. Waterfall City and Zippo

Chapter three: Waterfall City and Zippo

Dawn soon came after the terrifying attack of the tyrannosauruses last night. The Brachiosaureses and their passengers safely made it out of the Rainy Basin, with their Skybax escort following them from high above in the sky. Tabitha was sitting in the middle seat with David, who was looking through a book that Marion let him borrow for the trip. Unfortunately, he couldn't read it for the words were written in those weird footprint patterns they had seen on the signs in the last outpost, before they met Marion. Tabitha was playing around with Shorty, who was climbing up and down her back. She would stretch out her arms one at a time to let Shorty climb around on as well, while smiling at his antics. She burst out laughing, when the little scaly creature decided to hang upside-down on her right outstretched arm with his tail. Karl was up front with Marion as he watched Tabitha fool around with the little creature that she was growing attached too. Not once has Karl ever seen Tabitha smile in his life when their father brought her into their lives. He frown in anger and disappointment. He couldn't believe that the place they were stranded on was having a positive impact on his little sister. Karl turned to look at Marion as he brought up the subject about fighting against the tyrannosauruses if they ever came upon them again.

"So what's the best way to fight those things?" asked Karl.

"We don't approve of violence in Dinotopia," replied Marion, with her hair now tied up into a ponytail.

Karl looked down at Marion in disbelief before he continued his argument.

"Even when it saves your life?" questioned Karl. "That T-rex almost killed us back there!"

"Our lives are no more precious than that of a tyrannosaurus," said Marion calmly.

Tabitha turned to glance at Karl and Marion, along with David as they listened in on the conversation. Shorty stopped his playful antics as he sat still on Tabitha's shoulders. He also became interested in the conversation that was taking place. Karl let out an exasperated sigh at what he was hearing from Marion.

"Come on Marion," said Karl insistently. "Eat or be eaten, kill or be killed. That's the law of the jungle. We're human beings, and that means we're at the top of the food chain."

"Yeah?" said Tabitha as she entered the conversation. "Well tell that to the next T-rex that we meet if we ever go back to the Rainy Basin. Because here, I think we're at the bottom of the food chain now Karl."

Karl turned to glare at Tabitha with a look that said 'shut up'. Tabitha only glared back at him with a challenging gaze of determination. Marion soon spoke again as she brought Karl back to the conversation at hand.

"We are recent guests on this planet," said Marion as Karl turned to look at her again. "The dinosaurs have been here for a hundred and sixty million years. Mammals like us are only recent-"

"Look, I like my dog back home, but he's not getting his drivers licences, you know what I'm saying." Karl interrupted with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"You feel superior to him?" stated Marion.

"Well, yeah, you bet I do," said Karl proudly.

"But you're not," continued Marion firmly.

"Karl feels superior to everything," said David with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, that's true," pipped Tabitha with a smirk of her own. "That's what makes him so intolerable."

Karl ignored his siblings as he continued talking with Marion.

"If dinosaurs are so smart then how come they're doing all the manual labor?" questioned Karl.

"Dinosaurs take pride in their strength," said Marion.

"Well they're still carrying us around on their backs," scoffed Karl.

Tabitha rolled her eyes in annoyance at her brother trying to convince Marion to think things his way. She shared a look of exasperation with Shorty and David.

"There are many things you can learn from a Brachiosaurus," said Marion.

"Oh, yeah, like what?" questioned Karl in a challenging voice.

"Like humility," replied Marion firmly.

Tabitha burst out laughing, along with Shorty, at what she had just witnessed in front of her.

"Oh, Karl, you just got owned by a _girl_!" exclaimed Tabitha, while pointing a finger at her half-brother.

Karl glared at his sister before turning away to look forward again. The trip was spent in silence as each half-sibling went into their own thoughts of what they had experience so far within their journey. Shorty had moved down from Tabitha's shoulders, and was now sitting in her lap with a content look on his face. Tabitha was thinking about the T-rex attack back within the Rainy Basin. She remembered what had happened when those tyrannosauruses had almost made her a snack.

' _I wonder where those blue fireballs came from?_ ' thought Tabitha as she turned her gaze up towards the sky.

Tabitha let her gaze linger on the sky for a while until she thought she saw something flying high above the clouds. Tabitha blinked in surprise, but when she did the thing that had been flying within the sky a few seconds ago disappeared.

' _That was strange,_ ' thought Tabitha.

Shorty, sensing Tabitha's confusion, also glanced up at the sky to see what Tabitha was looking at, but saw nothing. Shorty looked up at Tabitha and gave a chirp in a questioned that asked 'what are you looking at'. Tabitha blinked when she heard Shorty chirp at her, before looking down at the little creature that sat in her lap.

"Oh, sorry Shorty, it's nothing," said Tabitha with a reassuring smile.

Shorty didn't look convinced, but soon let out a purr as Tabitha gently scratched him under the chin. The journey continued for about an hour, when the Brach that Tabitha and her half-brothers were riding on came around the corner of a large group of rocks. What they saw had their mouths' hanging open in astonishment.

There, before their very eyes, was a large and majestic city that sat on a lone island, with multiple waterfalls flowing over the edges and water gates into the river below.

"Welcome to Waterfall City," announced Marion with a proud smile.

"Whoa," whispered Tabitha as a large smile appeared on her face. "This place is…spectacular!"

"I've never seen anything like it!" exclaimed David as he turned to look at Marion.

Marion looked to Tabitha and David with a smile, before the Brach's continued on their way towards the city. It wasn't long until they were crossing the stone bridge of Waterfall City towards the entrance, where a large globe of the planet hung above the arch way.

"It's a beautiful city," commented David as they traveled across the bridge. "It's like something out of a fairy tale."

"You can say that again David," said Tabitha as she stood up within her seat to get a better look at the city, with Shorty sitting on her shoulders as he let out squeaks of excitement. "It must have taken a long time for your people to build this place, Marion."

"Yes," replied Marion with a nod. "But with the help of the dinosaurs, we were able to build this city through cooperation."

Tabitha then turned her attention on the globe, before frowning when she noticed how different the map looked from the ones they were use too back home.

"Marion, your world map is a little bit off," spoked David as he pointed to the globe that hung over the arch of the stone gate. "America isn't joined with Europe."

Marion smiled as she turned to David to explain why the map was like that.

"At the beginning of the Triassic Period, all of the continents were joined into one huge super continent called, Pangea."

"I'm surprised you didn't know that, David," said Karl smugly.

David glared at his brother, while Tabitha only smirked as she spoke to Karl. " _Right_ …just like you didn't know that the Brachiosaurus we're riding on was a leaf eater."

Karl turned to glare at Tabitha, while David and Shorty let out quiet snickers in the process. The two Brachiosauruses soon walked through Waterfall City where people, who were wearing clothing from the 1700's and 1800's, were excitedly cheering when they noticed Tabitha, Karl and David. They either all stood on balconies or in the streets as they waved to them. Some of the dinosaurs that lived in the city also let out cheers of their own as they all roared, squawked or hooted in their own language.

"Now this is a welcome party." Tabitha commented as she looked around at the people of the city in surprise and amusement.

"Why are they all looking at us?" asked David curiously.

"There haven't been new comers in many years," replied Marion with a smile. "You're celebrities."

Tabitha blushed at the word 'celebrities' as she wasn't use to being the center of attention back home. So the thought of people greeting her, and her half-brothers like this was kind of embarrassing. Shorty, who didn't seem to mind all of the attention that the people were giving them, merely sat up straight on Tabitha's left shoulder. He puffed out his chest to make himself look more important in front of the crowed. Tabitha rolled her eyes at her little companion's antics, while she shyly waved to the people along with her half-brothers. Marion smiled when she saw that they were getting closer to their destination.

"The Mayor of Waterfall City is coming to greet you," said Marion.

Tabitha turned her attention forward and saw where they were going. It was the city square where a large slab of stone stood with a giant fountain. On the surface of the stone were the same markings again. Near the town square was a large, grand looking, building where the Brachiosaurus stopped in front of.

"This is the palace," said Marion as she pointed to the building.

Trumpets blew as Padfoot dropped the ladder for Marion, Tabitha, Karl and David to climb down from their ride. Tabitha turned to look at Padfoot as Marion was the first one to go down the ladder.

"Thanks for getting us here," said Tabitha with a polite smile.

"It was my pleasure," replied Padfoot as he smiled back at Tabitha.

Tabitha then turned her attention on the Brach, who turned to glance back at her and the other passengers.

"And thank you for carrying us here!" called Tabitha to the Brachiosaurus.

The Brach let out a gentle hum in his way of saying 'you're welcome' to Tabitha. Tabitha nodded to the Brach before she followed after her half-brothers, who were half way down the ladder. Tabitha jumped the last three steps down before following Marion and her half-brothers to the entrance of the palace. They stopped a few feet in front of it as the large doors opened. Stepping briskly out the doors was a man that looked to be either in his forties of thirties.

He was wearing flashy robes with a strange hat on his head. His brown hair was curly and he had dark brown eyes that shone brightly with joy. Tabitha could tell he was someone that the people of the city held great respect, despite his strange taste in clothing.

"Who's that guy?" questioned Karl with a smirk. "He looks like a clown with all those robes on."

Tabitha gave her brother a look, along with Shorty, at what Karl had just said, before she smirked at what Marion said next.

"Hello, father," greeted Marion with a smile.

David chuckled, along with Tabitha and Shorty, as Karl stared in shock and embarrassment as Marion walked up to the man. Marion kissed her father on the cheek before pulling away as the Mayor had a relieved look upon his face.

"I've heard all about the Tyrannosaurus attack," spoke the Mayor. "I've been so worried about you."

"I'm fine, there's nothing to be frightened of," said Marion in a reassuring voice. "But I would like to speak to the senate about what has happened."

"Yes, of course, plenty of time for that," spoke the Mayor. "Dinner is at eight O-clock. Quarter to nine by the time the speeches have dragged on."

Tabitha rolled her eyes at the joke the Mayor made and she couldn't help, but smile when she heard Shorty letting out a coughed laugh from her shoulder. The Mayor then turned his attention on the half-siblings, and quickly stepped forward to greet them.

The Mayor cleared his throat and began to speak. "On behalf of the citizens of Waterfall City I, Waldo Syvill, the 207th Mayor of Waterfall City and speaker of the Dinotopian senate, extend to you our warmest welcome and hospitality."

With his speech done, Waldo, Marion and the rest of the citizens began to clap as they all welcomed the half-siblings. Waldo then turned and began to walk towards the doors of the palace with Marion following him, before Karl quickly stopped him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Mayor," spoked Karl as Waldo and Marion turned to look at him. "Our plane crashed into the sea. David, Tabitha and I escaped, but our father was trapped in it."

"We were hoping that you could help us," said Tabitha as she stepped forward.

"What we need is a search party," added David.

"Now don't you worry dear boys and young lady, the senate awaits you and we will address all of your concerns." Waldo said with a smile before he and Marion turned, and continued on their way towards the palace.

The half-siblings glanced between each other. David and Karl looking nervous, while Tabitha looked annoyed at what the Mayor had said before she spoke softly between them.

"Why do I get the feeling that we aren't going to get any help from this guy and his people?" questioned Tabitha.

Shorty let out a low growl as he glared after Waldo with a distasteful look within his eyes. Tabitha raised her right hand up and gently petted Shorty to calm him down. She and her half-brothers then followed the Mayor and Marion into the building. All of the citizens of Waterfall City followed after them as they all gathered within the largest part of the building, where it looked like a cross between a council room and court room. Tabitha looked up towards the balconies and saw many different kinds of dinosaurs staring down at her and her half-brothers. Waldo and Marion led them to a table with an ancient looking scroll displayed out in front of them. On the scroll were names of people, and the dates of when they were shipped wrecked on Dinotopia.

' _Woah, those are a lot of people,_ ' thought Tabitha with a raised eyebrow.

Waldo then began to speak to the people of Waterfall City, who have all seated themselves within the room.

"Recorded on this scroll, you can see the names of those ship wrecked souls whom destiny has delivered to our land." Waldo explained to the half-siblings who stood before the scroll. "They number thousands, from all corners of the earth from every century. Those poor unfortunates cast away on the winds of misfortune, only to find a better life. A life of harmony and fulfillment here on the shores of Dinotopia and we are their descendants, welcome."

The people and Waldo began to clap as they gave the half-siblings their warmest welcome. Tabitha looked around the room with a frown of uneasiness, before Marion led her and her half-brothers up to the table where the scroll sat. Waldo gestured towards the scroll, urging the siblings to sign, while Marion handed David a feather quill to use. David took the feather and began to write down his name and the date that they had crash landed on the island. Waldo looked down to see his name before he spoke.

"Welcome to Waterfall City, David Scott!" announced Waldo before he and the people went into a round of handclapping again.

David handed the quill to Karl, who also wrote his name down before Waldo once again told the people his name as well.

"And a very warm welcome to you too, Karl Scott!" announced Waldo again.

Karl then gave Tabitha the quill as she walked over to the scroll. She stared down at it thoughtfully before she wrote down her first name, but instead of writing down her father's last name, she wrote down her mother's last name. She handed the quill over to Marion, who placed it back on its resting place.

"And we also welcome you to Dinotopia, Tabitha Winters!" announced Waldo once again.

Karl and David bother stared at Tabitha when they heard Waldo announce her last name. David had a look of confusion, but it held a mix of understanding in it as well, while Karl stared at his half-sister in disbelief. Tabitha gave Karl a glare before she turned to face the crowed with a small smile upon her features, along with her brothers as the people of the city continued to clap for them. They then turned to face Waldo again as he began to speak to them.

"Now then," he started with an excited smile on his face. "We would like to formally accept you into the Waterfall City academy where you will, after training, be given the chance to become full Dinotopian citizens and to find your Saurian life partner."

David, Karl and Tabitha shared a look of confusion before they looked at Waldo again.

"Saurian?" asked David.

"You mean one of those scalies?" said Karl.

Tabitha gave a harsh nudge to Karl's ankle, while glaring at him, along with Shorty, when he said that word in front of all the dinosaurs that were present within the room.

"We don't use that ugly term here, but yes you three will be paired up with a Dinosaur," explained Waldo.

Tabitha stared at the Mayor in disbelief before she looked at Shorty, who stared back at her.

"Okay, this is officially moving too fast for my taste," Tabitha muttered to her little companion.

Waldo, who now finally noticed Shorty on Tabitha's shoulders, had a look of surprise on his face. He was about to say something, but quickly decided against saying anything about Shorty's presence for the time being. Marion then spoke to the half-siblings.

"There's a ceremony and we take a vow," explained Marion. "It's like a marriage."

"Marriage?" questioned Tabitha as she turned to look at Marion an appalled look on her face.

Karl and David were a little uneasy about this whole thing for they never asked for any of this.

"Well…thank you for the offer, but we have to get back home," said David as he politely declined the offer given to them.

"Our dad is still out there," argued Karl firmly. "There's no way that we can stay here."

"Also…I don't think we're cut out for living in this world of yours," said Tabitha with a frown.

"We understand that you three must be upset," said Waldo in gentle sympathy. "But many Dinotopians have lost their friends and families in the ship wrecks that brought them here, but I'm afraid that your past lives are gone."

' _Not like I have much of a past life back home,_ ' thought Tabitha bitterly as she shoved her hands into her pockets.

"This must be a big shock to you," said Marion as the three half-siblings turned to look at her. "But once you truly understand the wonderful life here you'll…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hit the brakes Marion," said Tabitha as she held up her hands to stop Marion in her explanation. "You think it's that easy to forget everything that we are forced to leave behind?"

"Marion, we have to get off this island," said Karl firmly.

Marion was a little sad and confused as to why the siblings didn't want to stay. Waldo then stepped in with an uncomfortable expression upon his face.

"Um…I'm afraid that is impossible," explained Waldo as the half-siblings turned to look at him. "Over the centuries a few have tried, but they've all perished on the Razor Reef."

"Razor Reef?" echoed Tabitha with a look of concern upon her face. "You mean this island is surrounded by a reef that doesn't let you pass out into open waters?"

"Yes," replied Waldo solemnly.

"But, wait a minute," said David as he spoke to the Mayor curiously. "How do you know that no one's ever made it?"

"Have you ever heard of Dinotopia before you arrived?" asked Waldo.

"No," echoed both David and Tabitha.

"Exactly," said Waldo.

Tabitha and David shared a glance with each other, with Tabitha raising one eyebrow at her half-brother.

"That answers that question," muttered Tabitha in sarcasm.

Waldo became excited again as he gestured for the siblings to follow him to the upper balcony.

"Now, you can't imagine how exciting this is for us," said Waldo. "You're the first new arrivals for many a long time and we are all waiting to hear of the changes in your world. Come along, come along!"

' _Oh boy,_ ' thought Tabitha with a roll of her eyes.

She and her half-brothers followed after Waldo up the stairs to the podium. Once they were up there, Waldo led David up to the podium.

"Our last off worlder was shipped wrecked here in 1924, so what are the principle society since then?" asked Waldo as David walked up to the front of the podium.

Suddenly, one of the dinosaurs, a Triceratops, spoke near the podium as Waldo turned to look at the dinosaur in confusion.

"What?"

The Triceratops spoke again and Tabitha thought she hear what sounded like 'War' and 'Germans'.

"Oh yes," said Waldo in realization before he turned to look at David. "Are you still at war with the Germans?"

"No, no we won that one." David answered both Waldo's and the Triceratops's question.

"Oh, well done!" exclaimed Waldo as he and the people within the room clapped their hands in congratulation, before Waldo brought David up to the front of the podium. "So, do tell us about the significant historical events that have fallen."

Tabitha crossed her arms over her chest as she watched David take the spot light to talk about what had been happening within their world.

"Uh…significant events, let's see." David muttered thoughtfully as he began to think about what he should say to the people. "There was the war in Vietnam, and…uh…the Watergate, the Gulf war, the Cold war and that's when they knocked down the Berlin Wall."

"They knocked down a wall?" asked Waldo.

"Yeah," replied David as he turned to look at Waldo.

"Was there something wrong with it?" questioned Waldo curiously.

"Uh…that's a little hard to explain," said David before turned back to look at the citizens again. "Let's see, what else."

"Uh-oh, he's going to go into his complicated words of technology," voiced Tabitha to Shorty, who looked at her while tilting his head in confusion. "Just listen, you'll get the idea."

"Oh, the space program, Apollo eleven, that's when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon." David said and that made Tabitha slap her head in exasperation.

' _Way ta-go David, you just spoke something that will confuse these people for decades._ ' Tabitha thought as Shorty cocked his head to one side in confusion at what he heard from David.

Shorty wasn't the only one as all of the people and dinosaurs looked at one another in confusion. Wondering as to how a man could walk on the moon, but David continued on, oblivious to what was around him.

"Technology is very advanced these days, we all have mobile phones, DVDs and laptops and everybody is on the internet."

Waldo then interrupted David's talk as Tabitha's half-brother turned to look at him.

"I'm sorry, I-I'm afraid we're all a little confused," said Waldo. "I thought you said someone walked on the moon."

David heard a few people laughing and he blushes a little in embarrassment before Waldo ushered him off from the podium. David walked back over to his siblings and stood beside Tabitha as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it," Tabitha reassured her half-brother. "They're just a little…unknowledgeable about the outside world, they'll understand eventually."

David gave Tabitha an appreciated smile before they turned their attention on Karl. What they heard come out of his mouth made Tabitha frown in displeasure.

"The most significant event in my history is falling out of the sky and watching my father swept away to drown." Karl said in a bitter voice that held some malice in it as he looked down at the people who became quiet below him before adding in sarcasm. "Welcome to Dinotopia."

Karl than walked off the podium with Tabitha watching him, while she shook head in disapproval. They were soon led down the stairs again where they met up with Marion at the bottom. People and Dinosaurs began to walk out of the room before Marion began to lead the half-siblings out. She then took them on a tour through Waterfall City. Tabitha looked around in amazement at the bustling city they were in as many people and dinosaurs interacted with each other.

"Whoa," voiced David as they walked through the city. "It's just…it's just incredible, isn't it?"

"You'll get used to it," said Marion.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." Tabitha muttered as she watched a few people walk around the streets.

Some of the people and dinosaurs were looking curiously at her and Shorty, who continued to ride on Tabitha's shoulders.

"I don't understand how such a place this big hasn't been found before or isn't on any maps," said David.

"Is that so surprising?" asked Marion with a smile.

"What do you mean?" questioned Tabitha as she turned to look at Marion curiously.

"Are there no mysteries left out there where you came from?" asked Marion.

"Well, no" answered David. "There are a lot of things we don't know about in our world."

"Well then this is just another one," said Marion.

They soon came to a large library that held many books and scrolls among rows of shelves. Tabitha stared up in wonder at the place they had entered. Many humans and Stenonychosaurus wandered throughout the library as they looked through shelves or were climbing up ladders as they search for books or scrolls to read.

"This is the Ancient Library of Dinotopia," said Marion as they walked through the building.

"This is your library?" asked David in amazement. "It must be centuries old."

"It must be a really hard job to keep this place clean of dust and spider webs," said Tabitha in a joking voice.

"The library is taken great care of," said Marion as she turned to look at Tabitha. "This place is of up most importance."

"Look at all of these scrolls," spoke David before he turned to look at Marion. "I would love to read some of them."

"You may find that a bit difficult seeing as they aren't written in English," said Marion.

"Oh," said David in disappointment.

The group stopped to see a Stenonychosaurus walking on a strange machine that looked like a prehistoric treadmill, while reading a scroll.

"What's he doing?" asked David curiously.

"Dinosaurs hate turning pages," explained Marion. "They do their best thinking when their feet are moving."

"Not to mention getting a good work out in the process," added Tabitha with a smile.

The Stenonychosaurus that was on the treadmill turned to look at them before he spoke.

"Deke ta malta," greeted the dinosaur before he turned back to looking at the scroll.

David was a little confused at what the dinosaur said, but nodded to him before he continued deeper into the library with Marion, Tabitha and Karl following after him. David continued to walk through the library as he gazed up at all of the scrolls. He was so mesmerized by all of the scrolls and books that he didn't notice another Stenonychosaurus, who was also distracted with looking at the scrolls on the shelves, walking up behind him with an arm load of scrolls. The two bumped into each other with the Stenonychosaurus accidently dropping the scrolls he had been holding to the floor. The Stenonychosaurus had light green scales with light yellow stripes going down his back.

"Gosh, I'm sorry," apologized David.

Tabitha quickly came up to David's side and was expecting the dinosaur to speak in a different language that they couldn't understand. Instead, what they heard out of the dinosaur's mouth was a England voice that spoke perfect English.

"No, no, no it's quite alright, it was completely my fault," said the dinosaur as he picked up the scrolls from the floor.

"This dinosaur can talk!" exclaimed Tabitha in surprise as she and David shared an excited look between each other.

Karl and Marion soon came up to them, with Karl looking at the Stenonychosaurus in surprise, while Marion only smiled before speaking to the dinosaur.

"Deke ta malta, Zippo," greeted Marion.

"Deke ta malta, Marion," the dinosaur, Zippo, greeted back before he turned to look at the three half-siblings. "David and Karl Scott and Tabitha Winters, right?"

"That's us," said Tabitha with a friendly shrug before pointing to Shorty. "And this is Shorty."

Shorty chirped his greeting to Zippo, who looked a little surprised to see Shorty sitting on Tabitha's left shoulder.

"Fascinating," said Zippo as he gazed at Shorty for a while. "I never thought that one of the stranger creatures within Dinotopia would accompany you on your journey here to Waterfall City. They usually keep well away from any city or village that is inhabited by humans and dinosaurs."

"Let's just say that Shorty here is an exception to being around me and my half-brothers, which are Karl and David by the way." Tabitha said as she gestured to Karl and David.

"Ah, of course," said Zippo in understanding before he got back on topic. "And yes, I do speak English and French. Bonjour mon ami."

"Bonjour," said David, glad that he was having a conversation with a Dinosaur.

Zippo laughed in response before he continued on with his chattering.

"I can understand seventeen major human and saurian languages and imitate many natural sounds, I was top of my class," said Zippo.

"Then you must have gotten straight 'A's in all of them," said Tabitha with an impressed look upon her face.

Zippo blushed under his scales at the complement. "Yes, well…"

"So, how many dinosaurs can talk?" asked Karl curiously.

"All of them," replied Zippo as he turned to look at Karl.

"But very few learn how to speak English properly if that's what you mean." Marion explained when she saw Karl grow confused at Zippo's answer.

"Oh, how exciting to meet you, you know…I just love mammals," said Zippo in an excited voice.

Karl and David were a little nervous at what Zippo had just said, while Tabitha only shook her head in amusement with Shorty letting out a scratchy chuckle.

"I have to leave you now," said Marion to the trio. "I'm going to speak with the senate, goodbye."

Marion turned and began to walk away before David quickly stopped her.

"W-wait a minute," said David as Marion turned to look at him. "Where are we supposed to go?"

"Yeah, where are we going to sleep? On the streets?" questioned Tabitha with a look of concern on her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you've been told," said Marion as she gave David and Tabitha look of apology before looking over to Zippo. "Zippo here has kindly agreed to give you temporary accommodation in his house."

"Yes," replied Zippo with a nod.

' _That's good to know,_ ' thought Tabitha with a smile. ' _I don't think I can stand sleeping outside in the city on a cold night._ '

"Goodbye," said Marion before she continued on her way out of the library.

"You mean we're staying with a din…" started Karl before Zippo interrupted him.

"Librarian," corrected Zippo.

Karl looked over at the retreating form of Marion before he uncomfortable corrected himself.

"Right, librarian," he said.

"Yes," said Zippo as he patted the scrolls he held under his right arm.

The foursome glance over to the entrance of the library as they watched Marion walk away from them, before Tabitha cleared her throat and spoke.

"So, where exactly is your home?" asked Tabitha curiously.

"Oh, it's not that far away," replied Zippo reassuringly. "I just have to put these scrolls back where they belong, and then I'll escort you to my home."

With that said, Zippo put the scrolls that he had been carrying back on the shelves where they belonged, before he began to lead the half-siblings to his home. As they were traveling through the streets, Tabitha let her eyes wander over the people that they pass for she still couldn't get over how strange and different the people looked. She continued to look around, not paying attention to where she was going, before she suddenly collided with someone tall and sturdy. Tabitha let out a grunt of surprise, while Shorty squawked indignantly, before she back up to see who or what she had bumped into. Tabitha's first thought was that she might have ran into one of the dinosaurs. But when she looked up to apologise, she saw that she had collided with a person that looked to be two feet taller than her.

He was wearing a brown, almost black, cloak with the hood drawn up over his head. The cloak covered his body completely so Tabitha couldn't really see the figure of the being in front of her. As for the person's face, Tabitha couldn't see it for it was cover in the shadows of the person's hood. But she did see the person's golden amber eyes staring down at her with a hard expression within them. Something about the eyes made Tabitha freeze for a moment as she stared into them with fascination, before she quickly gathered her wits together.

"S-sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," said Tabitha with a smile of embarrassment as she stepped out of the person's path. "I just got a little distracted by what was going on around me."

The hard look within the person's eyes softened to an expression of surprise as they stared down at Tabitha for a moment, before the person turned his head forward. Then he spoke in a slightly deep voice that sent a shiver down Tabitha's spine.

"Make sure you watch where you're going next time." He said before he continued on his way down the street.

Tabitha watched the person walk away with a raised eyebrow, while Shorty let out a soft purr as he tilted his head to the side curiously. Tabitha was brought out of her musings when she heard Karl calling out for her to hurry up. Tabitha glanced back at the hooded figure for a moment longer before running after her half-brothers and Zippo.

To be continued


	4. Arguments, meetings and the book

Chapter 4: Arguments, meetings and the book

It wasn't long before they arrived at Zippo's home, and Tabitha had to admit that it was one of the fanciest homes she had ever been to. Tabitha and her half-brothers were all sitting at the table as they ate the supper that Zippo had prepared for them. The food was delicious, despite it being all vegetables. Shorty was enjoying his meal on the floor as he ate his supper out of a small fancy bowl that Zippo had prepared for him. All in all, Zippo was a gracious host to the half-siblings. An old style graphophone played in the back ground, while the half-siblings ate. Zippo returned to give Karl a fork before he sat down in one of the chairs that suited his structure.

"Delicious," said Karl as he dug into his food.

"Zippo, you have got to be one of the best cooks that we've met in Dinotopia so far," commented Tabitha.

"Yes, it's very kind of you put us up Zippo," said David in agreement.

"Oh no, not at all," said Zippo from his seat. "I find you all very interesting species. I just love how you jump about, very quick reactions and the way you eat with your little knife and fork, cutting up the food first, I mean it's so funny."

' _He must really love to study us humans,_ ' thought Tabitha to herself.

She glanced down at Shorty, who was eating his food on the floor. Shorty sensed Tabitha's gaze as he turned his head to glance up at her for a second, before letting out a small burp. Tabitha chuckled as Shorty dove back into his food.

"So, do you have a human partner?" asked David out of curiosity.

Zippo's face saddened as he turned to look at a painting of a woman, who looked to be in her twenties, which stood across from the dining room. Tabitha had to admit that the woman was very beautiful.

"I was partnered to Sylvia of the hatchery," answered Zippo sadly. "But I'd never sought another after my soulmate's death."

"I'm sorry," said Tabitha gently in sympathy and understanding.

"Wow," spoke Karl as he stared at the painting with a smirk. "How'd you score a babe like that?"

"God," said David.

Zippo turned to look at Karl in confusion at the slang he just used, while Tabitha gave Karl a sharp kick underneath the table. Karl winched as he turned to look at Tabitha in confusion, while she and David glared at him.

"What?"

"Babe," said Zippo as he tried out the word himself, not sure what to make of it. "Very colorful language. It's a spiritual union I don't think you quite understand yet." Zippo then turned to look fondly back at the painting of his partner again. "No, I'll never meet another like her…babe."

Tabitha rolled her eyes in amusement before she went back to eating her supper in silence, along with her half-brothers. After supper, Zippo showed the half-siblings to their room, where they would sleep after their exciting journey through Dinotopia. The three half-siblings were given a room to share as Zippo hadn't prepared a room for Tabitha yet. Tabitha was a little miffed at sharing a room with Karl, but decided to be courteous and not give Zippo too much trouble about it. Night had already descended upon Dinotopia when the half-siblings entered their new room. The room held some fancy furniture and a one legged table with a chessboard, which stood in the middle between two leather chairs. Tabitha and David were impressed, while Karl wasn't too thrilled at having to stay in a home where a dinosaur lived.

"This place is grand." Tabitha said as she looked around the room for a moment before walking over to one of the beds.

Shorty, who had been sitting on Tabitha's shoulders, suddenly opened his wings and flew to the bed that Tabitha had chosen. Shorty landed with a soft thump before walking around in a circle like a cat or dog. Then plopped himself down, while letting out a sigh of content in the process.

"Well…at least we know what those wings of his are for." Tabitha stated with a chuckle as she sat down on the bed.

David also chuckled before he continued to look around the room. Suddenly, Karl spoke up to knock down his half-siblings' joyful mood.

"We really are in the nuthouse." He said with a frown on his face.

"Yeah, I know but what a place," said David as he walked over to one of the chairs that stood near the chessboard and sat down. "I mean it's just incredible and all that talk about partners."

"Despite Marion saying that having a ceremony is like being married to a different species. Yeah, it sounds like it could be worth a shot." Tabitha added with a playful smile on her face.

"Don't you two find that a little creepy?" questioned Karl with a disgusted look upon his features. "I mean, we're talking about giant lizards here."

"Here we go," muttered Tabitha.

"No, this is obviously some sort of utopia where everyone lives in harmony," said David with a smile.

"Yeah, well there's no way I'm going to be walking around with a lizard girlfriend," said Karl in a firm voice.

"I don't think they meant it like that, Karl" said Tabitha with a raised eyebrow before a smirk came over her face. "But if they did, then I hope your dinosaur girlfriend will keep you on a tight leash so that you won't go around chasing other helpless girls, who would fall head over heels for you."

"You're not helping," growled Karl as he glared at Tabitha angrily.

"Why do you always turn against everything before you even start it?" asked David.

"Well, what's the point, we're going home anyways." Karl said with a determined look etched upon his features.

"Oh and how are we going to do that?" questioned David with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, you saw what the razor reef did to our plane, right?"

Karl's face turned dark as his anger began to boil up inside of him. "You know, the more I listen to you the more I think you want to stay here."

"Of course I want to go home," said David in a calm voice. "But we don't know how to right now, so all I'm saying is that we should try to make the best of it."

"He's right Karl," spoke Tabitha from her place on the bed. "If we jump head first into the water without a plan then we'll wind up losing our lives in the process. We need to think before we act and maybe staying here will give us time to know the lay of the land so…"

"You guys don't really wanna leave, do you?" questioned Karl as he angrily glared at his half-siblings, believing that they were against him.

"Think about it Karl," argued David. "Can't you see that something absolutely amazing has happened to us?"

"No, I think watching dad die kind of ruined it for me," said Karl nastily.

Tabitha glared at the mention of their father once again. She was beginning to grow tired of Karl bringing Frank up all the time. Karl always looked up to their father like he was some kind of superhero. He never once thought about how Frank had abandoned their mothers when they needed him most.

"You know I didn't mean that," said David as he tried to calm his brother down as he stood up from the chair. "But I think I know what dad would say, he would say that this is a great adventure, and we should be seeing things that no one else has seen before. Maybe we should stay, just for a little while, see what life is like here."

Karl, stubborn and set on what he wanted, was done talking and decided to hit David and Tabitha with a low blow.

"Yeah, well maybe because you and Tabby don't have a life back home," said Karl fiercely as he glared at David and Tabitha. "But I do and I want it back."

Tabitha, finally having enough of Karl's attitude, quickly stood up from the bed. She walked quickly over to Karl before raising her right hand up. A loud slap resounded around the room, which startled Shorty to wake up from his nap. Karl stood stunned at what had just happened before he turned to look at Tabitha in shock and disbelief. David was also shocked at what happened and just stood where he was, unmoving. Tabitha glared fiercely at Karl in anger and disgust before saying the words that she had so long kept from forming out of her mouth.

"I should have known that you would become like Frank," said Tabitha angrily. "All you ever think about is yourself. You don't even think or care about what happens to the people that you hurt in the process."

With that said, Tabitha turned and began to walk out of the room, but not before Shorty flew up from the bed and landed on her shoulders. Tabitha opened the door of their room and marched out of the room, while not bothering to close the door behind her. Karl watched her leave as he lifted up his right hand to the cheek that Tabitha had slapped.

"Now you've done it," said David in a cold voice.

Karl gave David a quick glare before he raced out of the room to go after Tabitha in hopes of apologizing to her. Tabitha was already far ahead of Karl as she walked briskly through the still crowded streets of Waterfall City, while trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill out from her eyes. Tabitha didn't pick where she was going for she only thought about getting as far away from Karl as possible. Tabitha turned down each corner of the street to keep her brother from being able to catch up to her, but that also got her lost within the process. After a while of walking briskly through the city, Tabitha finally found herself at a bridge that over looked a canal, where there weren't any people walking about. She stopped to catch her breath and to finally let out the tears that were burning at her eyes. Tabitha leaned against the stone wall of the bridge as Shorty jumped off her shoulders to sit by her head. He watching helplessly as Tabitha began to cry softly within the crook of her arms. All of her anger and frustration had finally spilled out of her as she freely cried out her sorrows, while Shorty gently nuzzled his head against Tabitha's to comfort her. Tabitha didn't know how long she cried, but once she was done her eyes were slightly red, yet she didn't care about how she looked right now. Tabitha gave out one last sniffle before wiping off the remaining tears from her face with her right hand. Shorty let out a small chirp in his way of asking if Tabitha was alright. Tabitha looked down at her small companion before giving Shorty a small smile, while lifting her hand up to stroke his head.

"I'm alright, Shorty." Tabitha said gently as she reassured her friend. "I was just letting out all my pent up emotions that I've kept in for too long. It wasn't easy to keep them in check when I had to live with Frank and Karl."

Shorty let out a sad purr of sympathy as Tabitha continued to stroke his head, while Tabitha looked down at the water that flowed underneath the bridge. Tabitha stood on the bridge for what seemed like hours, but had only been ten minutes, before she straightened up.

"Well…I guess we should head back to Zippo's house," said Tabitha with a small smile on her face. "I've got school tomorrow and I should probably get to bed early."

Shorty let out a chirp of agreement before he jumped up onto Tabitha's shoulder as she began to walk back in the direction where she thought she came from. But after an hour of walking, Tabitha found that she was lost as she stood in the darker parts within streets of Waterfall City.

"Well…this is just great," muttered Tabitha angrily as she scratched the back of her head thoughtfully. "I guess I was so upset with what Karl had said that I wasn't paying attention to where we were going."

Shorty grumbled and huffed in agreement to what Tabitha had said with a flat look upon his face. Tabitha noticed this and frowned at the little creature on her shoulder.

"Well you would get upset too if one of your half-siblings spoke harsh words in front of your face." Tabitha said as she crossed her arms over her chest as she gave Shorty a flat look of her own.

Shorty let out a huff to show his distaste at Tabitha's words before he suddenly went stiff on her shoulder.

"Shorty, what's wrong?" asked Tabitha in concern when she noticed her little friend's stiffness.

Shorty turned his gaze towards one of the alleyways as he let out a threatening hiss. Tabitha turned to look at the alleyway that they were standing in front of, and saw a large man walking out of it from the shadows. The man that walked out of the alleyway was six feet tall and he wore rugged clothing. Tabitha grew tense as she felt something was off about this man. Tabitha then heard two sets of feet walking down the street that she and Shorty had come down a few moments ago. She quickly turned around to glare at who was coming up behind her. Two men, one tall and another skinny, walked towards Tabitha. Like the first man, they were also wearing rugged clothing. Their steps were uneven as they swayed back and forth, while bumping into each other. Tabitha frowned at their movements as a thought went through her head.

' _They must me drunk or something,_ ' thought Tabitha as she tensed her body.

The three men closed in around Tabitha, while Shorty let out a growl as he kept a watchful eye on the three men that were circling them.

"Well, well *hick* what have we *hick* here?" questioned one of the men with a sloppy smirk on his face.

"Looks like one of those new comers," spoked a second man as he nearly tripped over his feet. "And she looks interesting enough to play with."

Tabitha sneered at what the man had said as she began to grow agitated to what was transpiring around her. But she tried to remain calm as she began to speak to the three men to see if she could buy some time, while figuring out how to get out of this situation.

"I don't think you guys want to try your hand with me." Tabitha said as she looked around at the men that were closing in on her. "I'm not really your type and to be honest with you guys, you're not my type either."

"Aw…don't be like that," said the third man as he and his friends moved closer towards Tabitha. "Why not give us a chance before you condemn us."

"I don't think so." Tabitha muttered before she decided to take a chance and tried to bolt between the two men.

But her plan backfired when the two men that Tabitha tried to bolt between grabbed both of her arms. Shorty let out a hiss as he jumped from Tabitha's shoulder and tried to lash out at one of the men that grabbed Tabitha. But the third man quickly grabbed the small dragon and held it tightly within his hands.

"Where do you think you're going?" questioned one of the men mockingly.

Tabitha began to thrash around as she tried to make things difficult for the men, along with Shorty as he squirmed and wriggled within the grip of the man that was holding him.

"Let me go!" yelled Tabitha fiercely as she fought with all her might against the two men who were holding her.

"You'd better calm down, Sweetheart, or else you'll hurt yourself!" exclaimed one of the men as his grip on Tabitha's right arm tightened, thus causing Tabitha to let out a yelp of pain.

"Hey, I believe that she already told you guys' that you aren't her type," spoke a voice from out of the shadows.

Tabitha stopped in her struggling when she heard the voice, along with the three men. They all turned their attention in front of them and saw a familiar cloaked figure slowly walking towards them. Tabitha was surprised to see the cloaked figure again, while the three men only stared at the stranger for a moment before they began to laugh. From a far distance, the figure looked smaller to them.

"I think you should just continue on your way, stranger," spoke one of the men holding Tabitha. "We're having a little fun here and it's got nothing to do with you."

The man tightened his grip on Tabitha's right upper arm again, which made her flinch in pain as she bit down on her bottom lip to keep from crying out. Her movement didn't go unnoticed though. In a blur, the hooded figure suddenly appeared in front of Tabitha and the two men. In one quick movement the cloaked figure grabbed the man that had tightly gripped Tabitha's arm by the front of his shirt. The man lost his grip on Tabitha's arm as he was hefted up four feet off from the ground. The other man that had been holding Tabitha's other arm quickly let go as he and his other partner stared up at the figure in fear. Tabitha also stared up at the figure in shocked surprise before her eyes turned to look at the cloaked figure's arm. Her eyes slowly widened at what they saw. The cloak figure's arm that was holding up the struggling man was covered completely in black fur. The man that was holding Shorty loosened his grip on the little creature as he and his partner began to take on looks of fear. When the man's grip loosened, Shorty found himself dropping to the ground, while landing on his feet in the process. The man, to whom the figure was holding up from the ground, stared down at the hooded figure in terror as the hood began to fall off the figure's head. When the hood fell it revealed not the face of a man, but a leopard with piercing gold eyes.

"A-a-a Beast Man!" screamed the first man as he and his partner, who dropped Shorty to the ground, began to make a mad dash out of the alley.

The leopard continued to hold the man for a few moments as his golden eyes glared into the frightened man's eyes before the leopard spoke with a snarl.

"If I catch you and your friends messing with innocent women again, well…you don't want to find out what I can do," warned the leopard before he released his grip.

The man let out a shriek as he fell down to the ground with a hard thud before he quickly scrambled to his feet, and ran in the same direction his friends went. Tabitha watched the man run away for a few moments before turning her gaze back onto the humanoid leopard as Shorty quickly jumped back onto her shoulder. The leopard gazed down at Tabitha for a moment before he slowly turned and began to walk away.

"W-wait!" shouted Tabitha as she reached out with her right hand.

The leopard stopped in his tracks as he turned to glance over his shoulder with a serious expression upon his face.

"If you want to find your way back to the librarian's home, than follow me." The leopard said before he continued to walk forward again.

Tabitha blinked in surprise for a moment but quickly ran after the humanoid leopard until she was walking beside him. Shorty sat stiffly on Tabitha's shoulders as Tabitha walked along side the humanoid leopard. There was an uncomfortable silence between Tabitha and the leopard as they walked down a few dark alleys that started to grow brighter. They soon arrived at a brightly lit street that led to the center of Waterfall City. Tabitha couldn't help herself as she slowly turned her gaze upwards to look at the leopard's face.

The fur on the leopard's body was a glossy black that shone under the fire light of the city. Tabitha also noticed a small scar on the leopard's face. The scar ran down the left side of his cheek before stopping near the edge. It looked like a slash mark and she could only guess that the leopard had gotten into a fight with someone…or something.

Tabitha's eyes lowered as she took in the rest of the leopard's body. The cloak that had covered the leopard's entire body now revealed what his form really looked like underneath. The leopard's frame was slightly muscular, but held a leanness that showed he didn't just hold power in his body. It also held speed as well. The leopard's arms were muscular and the fur seemed to ripple whenever they moved. The leopard was wearing brown fingerless leather gloves with metal knuckle guards on top. A brown vest was the only thing that he was wearing. Its front was opened to show off his muscular chest, which had a slash mark on the front. Tabitha blushed when she realized that she was staring too long at the muscular chest and quickly cast her eyes downwards to see the rest of the leopard's clothing. The leopard was wearing baggy green pants that were held up by a leather brown belt. The leopard's feet were bare of any footwear and around near the end of the leopard's tail was a red leather band. Hanging on the left side of the tiger's belt was a brown leather pouch that either held food or medical supplies.

Tabitha turned her gaze up towards the leopard's face again and saw his eyes staring down at her with small frown on his face, but it wasn't a frown of annoyance for his eyes held a hit of curiosity within them. Tabitha blushed once again when the leopard caught her staring at him and quickly looked down at the ground in embarrassment.

"S-sorry," stammered Tabitha.

The leopard continued to stare down at Tabitha for a moment before turning his head forward again.

"You shouldn't be wandering around these streets by yourself," spoke the leopard in his slightly deep voice. "Even though Waterfall City is a peaceful place to be in, it can still hold a few people who aren't afraid to go to the darker parts of the city to get themselves drunk, while try to find a helpless young girl to play with."

"I'm not really helpless, you know," said Tabitha as she turned her gaze up from the ground to look at the leopard. "I could have handled that situation myself back there."

"Of course you could have," muttered the leopard sarcastically. "I'm sure you were doing just fine in letting those men have their way with you before I came around."

Tabitha growled as she made a pouty face before turning her head away from the leopard in anger.

"I was out numbered, okay!" exclaimed Tabitha in a stubborn voice. "If it were at least one of them I would have kicked him where the sun didn't shine."

The leopard merely rolled his eyes at what Tabitha had said as he continued walking forward, but he was suddenly taken by surprise when Tabitha once again spoke.

"But…I guess I should say thanks," muttered Tabitha in embarrassment as she gazed down at the ground again. "If you hadn't have come by when you did, then things would have turned out really bad for me and Shorty back there."

Shorty let out a squeak of agreement from Tabitha's shoulders as the leopard looked down at Tabitha in surprise. A small smile appeared on his muzzle as he turned his attention forward again. It wasn't long until they came to the city square, where the people of Waterfall City were walking about. Some of the people were either talking to each other or just giving a friendly greeting when they passed by another person. The leopard stopped at the entrance of the alley with Tabitha stopping beside him.

"You should be able to find your way back to the Librarian's home from here," said the leopard as he looked down at Tabitha and Shorty.

Tabitha looked up at the leopard curiously. "What are you going to be doing?"

The leopard looked down at Tabitha with his intense eyes golden eyes. Tabitha stared right back at him, while showing no fear upon her features. After a moment, the leopard spoke as he turned to look at the palace that was the Mayor's and Marion's home.

"I came to talk with the Mayor of Waterfall City to discuss some…important matters with him." The leopard replied as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"And I'm guessing it doesn't concern me, huh?" questioned Tabitha with a raised eyebrow.

"That's right, kid," replied the leopard flatly. "So be careful in not sticking your nose into somebody else's business."

"Whatever you say." Tabitha said with a shrug before she started to walk out of the alley, but stopped as she turned to look at the leopard again. "By the way, I never got your name."

The leopard's face changed into a look of surprise as he stared at Tabitha in confusion before thinking over her question for a few seconds. The leopard then looked at Tabitha with a stoic gaze upon his features.

"Why would you be interested in knowing my name?" questioned the leopard suspiciously.

Tabitha only smiled as she once again shrugged her shoulders at the leopard in front of her. "It's only fair that I know the guy who helped me."

The leopard frowned as he thought about this for a moment before letting out a sigh. He then looked back at Tabitha with a neutral look upon his features.

"My name is Chui," said the leopard.

"Chui, huh?" voiced Tabitha as she let the name roll over her tongue before smiling. "My name's Tabitha Winters." She then gestured to her little companion on her shoulder. "And this is Shorty."

Shorty let out a chirp of greeting to the leopard, Chui, with Tabitha chuckling. Chui couldn't help himself as a small smile appeared on his muzzle, while shaking his head at Shorty in amusement.

"Well…it was interesting to meet you, Tabitha," said Chui as he curled his right hand into a fist, placed it against the left side of his chest and bowed.

Tabitha repeated the gesture as she bowed back to Chui. The two then straightened back up before Tabitha turned and began to walk in the direction of where Zippo's home was. Chui watched her leave for a moment before he turned his attention on the palace again. His face hardened as he glared up at the palace in front of him.

' _T_ _hat damn Mayor of Waterfall City,_ ' thought Chui in disgust. ' _He's is growing too ignorant to what is happening around this island. I don't see why I was chosen to go talk to him in the first place. *sigh* but orders are orders. I need to tell the Mayor that the sunstones are failing all around Dinotopia. I just hope he listens, otherwise we're all doomed._ '

Chui pulled his hood back up before hanging his arms down to his side as he let his cloak cover his body again. He then walked out into the crowd as he blended in among them. He decided to see if he could talk with the Mayor in the morning, while the Mayor's daughter was at the Waterfall City Academy teaching the students.

* * *

Back with Tabitha, she was walking around the square among the people with a small smile appearing on her face. Shorty noticed her smile and let out a curious chirp to get her attention. Tabitha blinked in surprise as she glanced at Shorty and when she saw his curious look, she smiled.

"Sorry, Shorty, I was just thinking," said Tabitha in a soft voice as she walked in the direction of Zippo's home. "I'm just kind of surprised that someone like Chui lives on Dinotopia. But I guess there are a lot of things that I don't know about this place, huh?"

Shorty let out a chirp of agreement before nuzzling against Tabitha's cheek. Tabitha giggled as she petted her little companion. It didn't take long for Tabitha to find Zippo's home again. Tabitha knocked on the door before Zippo quickly opened it. When he saw Tabitha standing there, a relieved look formed on his face.

"Thank goodness," voiced Zippo as he let Tabitha enter the house before closing the door behind her. "I'm so glad that you've returned Tabitha. I heard from David that you and Karl had a…quarrel with each other after you barged out of the house. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," said Tabitha with a smile of reassurance. "I just needed to clear my head for a while that's all. Sorry to make you worry Zippo."

"Well, at least you found your way back alright," said Zippo with a smile. "Now you best get to sleep. You have a long day of school tomorrow."

Tabitha let it a yawn. "You won't get any argument from me, Zippo."

Shorty let out a chirp of agreement before he suddenly sat up straight on Tabitha's shoulder. Tabitha looked at her little friend curiously when she saw this action.

"Shorty, what is it?" asked Tabitha with a raised eyebrow.

Shorty then surprised Tabitha by opening his wings and flying over to one of Zippo's tables. The little lizard landed on the table and that was when Tabitha saw what had caught Shorty's attention. Sitting on the surface of the table was a book. Tabitha walked over to the table as Shorty sniffed at the book curiously. When Tabitha got closer she was able to get a better look at the book. The book's front and back cover were made of a light leather brown, but what was imprinted on the cover of the book was what caught Tabitha's interest. Stamped into the surface of the book were the designs of Celtic knots. One Celtic knot formed a circle over an image that had Tabitha blinking in surprise. In the Celtic knot circle was a picture of a serpent twirled in a spiral, but upon closer inspection she saw that it wasn't a serpent at all…but a dragon.

"What's this?" asked Tabitha as she picked up the book.

Zippos came over to at Tabitha's side to see the book that she was now holding in her hands. A frown appeared on his face before he answered Tabitha's question.

"I'm not really sure myself," he replied as he look up at the girl beside him. "All I can tell you is that it is some kind of book that had been discovered a few years back by one of scholars of Dinotopia. They found it in the Forbidden Mountains between some boulders. It was brought back to Waterfall City to be studied. The librarians tried to see what kind of information it has in its pages…but there was a problem."

"What kind of problem?" asked Tabitha curiously as she looked at Zippo with a raised eyebrow.

"Well…the words in the book are of a language that I'm unfamiliar with," answered Zippo as Tabitha opened the book to see what the librarian meant. "As you can see the words and writing are something that I can't seem to translate. It is in a language that the people of Dinotopia are unfamiliar with."

Tabitha looked at the words that were written on the first page of the book. She looked at them carefully before realization came over her.

"Zippo…these aren't just words," said Tabitha as an excited look came over her features. "These are old Norse runes!"

"W-what?" asked Zippo in a confused voice.

Tabitha realized that Dinotopia must not have known about Vikings and their language so she decided to tell Zippo a little bit about it.

"Norse is a language that is used by the Scandinavians that live in the Northern regions of the outside world." Tabitha explained as she pointed out the runes that were written on the page. "These runes were used by Vikings a long time ago. The runes in this book look pretty old, but they aren't that hard to read."

"Oh, you mean…you can understand the 'runes' that are written within this book?" asked Zippo with an excited look upon his face.

"A little bit," answered Tabitha honestly with a shrug. "My mother taught me old Norse when I was seven years old. It's been a long time so I might be a little rusty at it."

"Well, can you make out the words that are on the first page at least?" asked Zippo curiously.

Tabitha turned her attention back onto the first page that she had opened the book on. She stared down at the old runes as she carefully read what they said. Tabitha raised an eyebrow when she was able to make out what the words say.

"The Book of Dragons?" voiced Tabitha in confused voice.

Zippo also held a look of confusion when he heard what Tabitha had just read from the page.

"Dragons?" echoed Zippo curiously.

"Big, large, mythical creatures that the people from the outside world created in fantasy stories," explained Tabitha as she looked at Zippo. "They're kind of like dinosaurs, but they have large bat like wings that help them fly in the sky and they breathe fire."

"Oh dear," voiced Zippo with a hint of fear on his face.

"Don't worry, dragons don't exist," said Tabitha with a reassuring smile upon her face.

Shorty, who had been sitting quietly on the table, let out an indignant squawk. Tabitha and Zippo looked at the little creature in surprise as Tabitha raised an eyebrow at her companion.

"What's up with you?" asked Tabitha curiously.

Shorty suddenly surprised Tabitha by jumping onto her shoulder. He then began to poke the tip of his tail at the book.

"You…want me to flip to the next page?" asked Tabitha as she guest what Shorty wanted her to do.

Shorty chirred as if saying 'yes' to Tabitha's question. Tabitha and Zippo looked at each other before Tabitha shrugged her shoulders and did what Shorty asked her to do. She flipped the page and came to the next one where it had different symbols next to the Norse runes. Tabitha frowned as Zippo inspected the page with her.

"What in the…" voiced Tabitha before she began to read the words quietly to herself.

Zippo became a little edgy when Tabitha wasn't reading out loud to him. He soon spoke up as he asked Tabitha what the runes say. Tabitha stopped her silent reading as she looked at the librarian with wide eyes.

"Zippo…these runes talk about the different classes of each dragon that is written in this book." Tabitha said as she pointed to the symbols that were on the page, each one looking like a dragon. "But that doesn't make any sense. Dragon's aren't…"

Tabitha trailed off when Shorty suddenly nudged his head against her cheek. Tabitha glanced at her little friend curiously before Shorty tapped his tail on the book again impatiently.

' _Im_ _patient little winged lizard,_ ' thought Tabitha in her head while rolling her eyes in the process.

Tabitha flipped to the next page and what she saw on it made her eyes grow wide in shock and disbelief. Tabitha quickly turned her head to look at Shorty for a second before turning back to the page that she was on. Zippo's eyes also widened when he saw what was on the page as well. Tabitha once again looked at Shorty, who sat on her shoulder with a smug look that said 'you were saying?' and Tabitha only gave the little lizard a frown.

"Don't look so smug you Terrible Terror." Tabitha muttered under her breath.

Shorty only let out a chuckle, which had Tabitha letting out a sigh as she looked down at the page. On the page was a drawing of a little dragon that looked exactly like Shorty. That was when Tabitha started to second guess about the existence of dragons.

To be continued


	5. Chapter 5

A New World

Here's the next chapter of my Dinotopia crossover story. I hope you all enjoy it and sorry for the long wait.

Chapter five: First day of School, the second beast man and Crossing path's again

Tabitha let out a yawn as she stretched her arms high up over her head, while she walked with her brothers through the streets of Waterfall City. Tabitha had stayed up late last night with Zippo in going over the 'Book of Dragons' to help the librarian translate the runes in the book. But she luckily had to call it a night as she reminded Zippo that she had to go to school tomorrow, and had promised Zippo that she would help him with the book after school was finished. Shorty was, as usual, on Tabitha's shoulder as he let out a yawn of his own before slumping down to sleep a little more as he curled around Tabitha's neck.

"You look tired," said David when he took notice of Tabitha's yawn.

"Yeah," replied Tabitha as she rubbed her right hand over her eye. "I didn't get very much sleep last night, but I'll be fine."

It was only the half-truth that Tabitha was telling her half-brother. Tabitha didn't want to tell her two brothers about the 'Book of Dragons', otherwise she would have a huge argument with Karl about dragons being nothing but myths. Speaking of Karl, he had arrived home last night and tried to apologize to her. But Tabitha said that his words were meaningless to her, and the only way for her to forgive him is that he shows he's sorry through his actions. After that, Tabitha had gone to bed with Shorty curling up beside her head. That came back to where they were now as Tabitha, and her two half-brothers walked through the city streets as they headed towards their new school. As they walked through the streets towards their school, a man came walking by them before he stopped to politely greet them.

"Breath deep," said the man with a smile.

"Seek peace," greeted David as he returned the same smile to the man.

Tabitha blinked as she looked at her half-brother in confusion at what he had just said, while Karl looked at David with a strange and disturbed glance. They soon continued on their way, but after they were far away from the man, Karl spoke up with his voice laced in disgust.

"I can't believe you just said that, 'seek peace'," muttered Karl. "You give me the creeps."

"Karl, grow up," said David in exasperation. "It's a greeting."

"Ah," voiced Tabitha in understanding. "So basically, it's like the same greeting that Zippo and Marian shared at the library yesterday, right?"

"Yep," replied David with a smile towards his half-sister.

It wasn't long until the three half-siblings arrived at their new school where Zippo was outside with a group of children. As the three half-siblings drew closer they began to hear what Zippo was saying to the children, with the children repeating after him.

"Other's first-self last."

"Other's first-self last."

"Do one thing at a time."

"Do one thing at a time."

Zippo soon took notice of the half-siblings coming towards him and the children.

"Ah, here are your three new class mates. David, Tabitha and Karl." Zippo said once the three half-siblings stopped to stand in front of him, and the children as he introduced them.

"Breath deep, David, Tabitha and Karl." The children greeted simultaneously.

"Seek peace," echoed Tabitha and David together as they politely greeted the children.

Shorty, who had awoken from his sleep, also greeted the children with a chirp, while Karl had a look of disbelief on his face.

"No way," he said stubbornly. "I'm not staying here, this school if for little children.

"Then you should be right at home." David said with a smirk.

"Yes, it's a beginner's class," explained Zippo.

Tabitha began to laugh at Karl. She found it amusing that her older half-brother was going to be placed in the same grade level, as the children they were going to be class mates with. Karl gave his half-sister a quick glare before he looked at Zippo, and shook his head at the librarian.

"Forget it Zippo," said Karl as he began to walk away.

"And here we go again," whispered Tabitha to Shorty. "Karl likes to give up on things quickly before he even tries them."

Shorty let out a scratchy laugh again before Zippo quickly chased after Karl a few steps. The librarian didn't want Karl to go through Dinotopia without learning the Saurian Language that could help him in the near future.

"Oh, no, I'd thought you be delighted," said Zippo quickly as Karl turned to look at him. "The visiting tutor in this class is your traveling companion, Marion."

At the mention of Marion's name, Karl decided to take the class if it meant that he would see the girl he had become attracted to. Tabitha rolled her eyes when she saw the look on her half-brother's face, and glanced at Shorty, who looked at her with a non-existing raised eyebrow.

"Speak the name of a beautiful woman in front of Karl, and he will do anything to see her pretty face." Tabitha explained in a low voice. "Women are the bait on a fish hook and Karl's the fish."

Shorty let out another scratchy laugh before Zippo led the three half-siblings and the children into the school. Once they were inside the children and the half-siblings began to take their seats at either desks or benches. The desks and benches were all lined up in a straight line in front of a long blue carpet that created a small aisle. The room felt like any other school room that Tabitha had been in when she had attended school back home. But it felt a lot smaller to her and her half-brothers since they were attending a class with children.

The room had a few bookshelves with books sitting in them. In a corner near the front windows of the class was a globe that showed the large island of Dinotopia, which was surrounded by the world's ocean. Standing on a small wooden platform, with a wooden desk in front of her, was Marion, who was wearing the same clothing that she had worn when the half-siblings first met her.

Tabitha sat down in a grey brown desk, which was a little too small for her, near a young ten year old girl with long blonde hair tied into two pigtails. The girl was wearing an old fashioned blue dress with a white collar and brown slip on shoes. Shorty was still perched on Tabitha's shoulder as he gazed around the room in curiosity. Karl and David were also sitting in the small desks across from her, but David didn't seem to mind the size of the desk too much. Karl on the other hand was a little disgruntled at having to sit in the small desk, like he was one of the smaller children. Tabitha had to hide a smile of amusement at seeing Karl sitting in the small desk before turning her attention towards Marion, as she began to speak to the class.

"Alright everyone, settle down," said Marion as she got everyone's attention on her. "Now, in this term we will be studying Saurian. At the end of the term you will sit in examination, and write your answers in footprint language."

' _That sounds like fun._ ' Tabitha thought with a smile as she gently scratched Shorty underneath the chin, thus making him purr in the process.

"Now, who can tell me the first code of Dinotopia?" asked Marion to the class.

One of the children, a young girl with brown hair tied up into two side buns, raised her hand before answering Marion's question.

"One rain drop raises the sea," she said.

"Very good," praised Marion before she picked up a sheet of paper from her desk and stepped down from her podium. "I will now read to you all the codes of Dinotopia."

Tabitha listened attentively as Marion began to read out the codes of Dinotopia, along with Shorty as his tail swished gently back and forth behind him. Marion walked down the aisle as she read aloud to the class.

 **1\. One raindrop raises the sea**

 **2\. Survival of all or none**

 **3\. Weapons are enemies, even to their owners**

 **4\. Give more, take less**

 **5\. Others first-self last**

 **6\. Observe, listen and learn**

 **7\. Do one thi-**

Marion stopped midsentence when she noticed that Karl wasn't paying attention to her. Tabitha also noticed as well when she saw that her half-brother's head was down. She also noticing that he was drawing something on the surface of his desk. Marion took a closer look at what Karl was doing, and saw that he was drawing two stegosaurs on the surface of his desk.

"Karl," said Marion in a stern voice.

Karl looked up from his work in embarrassment when he saw Marion standing over him. She gazed down at him like a mother, who had caught their child stealing a cookie from a cookie jar.

"That is unnecessary destruction of public property." She paused as she looked down at the drawing again before adding with slight amusement. "And that is not how stegosaurs reproduce."

While the children laughed silently among themselves, Tabitha and David sent their half-brother a glare, who gave them a weak smile in return. Tabitha sighed in exasperation as Shorty sent a glare of his own at Karl before he gently nuzzled his head against Tabitha's to relax her. That action caused Tabitha smiled at Shorty in appreciation as she gently petted him. Marion continued on with reading the final codes of Dinotopia.

 **8\. Sing every day**

 **9\. Exercise imagination**

 **10\. Eat to live, don't live to eat**

Once she was done reading the codes of Dinotopia, Marion turned around to look at the children within her class before asking them another question.

"Now, who knows where we would find all the codes of Dinotopia written on?"

Almost all of the kids in the classroom had raised their hand up as a few of them shouted 'Me, me, pick me'. Tabitha let out a soft chuckle at the sight of the children, who eagerly wanted to answer the question that Marion asked them. It reminded her of how she had been the children's ages, and had been just as enthusiastic as them in wanting to answer the questions that her teacher would ask her and her classmates a long time ago. Karl didn't bother in raising his hand, while David raised his hand. Tabitha didn't raise her hand up for she wanted to give her older half-brother a chance to answer the question. Marion smiled at David's eagerness to learn as she pointed at him to answer her question.

"In Fountain Square," answered David cheerfully.

"Very good David," smiled Marion before she continued on towards her desk.

Karl gave his brother a weird look before David quickly got defensive with his brother.

"What? I read it in Zippo's city guide."

Karl shook his head at his brother in aggravation before glancing at Tabitha, who was giving him an cocky smirk before he turned to glare down at the surface of his desk in anger. Sometimes he wished that Tabitha wasn't his sister.

"And a very special significant to all Dinotopians," said Marion as she placed her sheet of paper back onto her desk.

Marion soon took the children and half-siblings outside to help teach them more about the Codes of Dinotopia as she led them to Fountain Square. In the middle of the Fountain Square was a large twenty foot slab of stone standing vertical, and proud within the city. Written on the slab's surface were the familiar footprint markings that Tabitha and her half-brothers have come to know of. The half-siblings and children followed Marion up the steps as they got closer to the large slab of stone.

"Ancient legends tell how it was brought up from the world beneath, tens of thousands of years ago." Marion explained as they now stood in front of the large slab of stone.

"What's the world beneath?" asked Tabitha curiously.

"It's a mythical place where Dinosaurs were said to have found sanctuary at the dormant of time," answered Marion as she turned to face her class.

One of the children, a boy wearing a black school uniform, pointed to one of the rules that were imprinted near the very top of the slab of stone.

"Rule four, give more, take less," said the boy.

"Very good," said Marion as she smiled at the little boy.

Marion then pointed to the foot print letters that were written at the very bottom of the slab.

"You can see down at the very bottom here that the eleventh code is missing. All that can be made out are the first three letters, F-I-N."

Tabitha looked closer to see that a huge chunk of stone had been taken out near the bottom of the slab. Tabitha frowned in thought as she stared hard and long at the words at the bottom of the slab.

' _F-I-N...I have a feeling that the last word would be 'D'. So the letters would make up the word 'Find', but what would be the last word after 'find'?_ ' thought Tabitha to herself.

"Nobody knows what the eleventh code is," continued Marion as Tabitha turned her attention back on her. "Anyone here want to guess what the eleventh code might be?"

"Find a way out of here?" guessed Karl silently in a joking matter to his half-siblings.

David shushed him in annoyance, while Tabitha jabbed her left elbow hard into Karl's ribcage, thus causing him to grunt in pain. That action caused Marion to look towards them.

"Did you say something, Karl?" asked Marion.

"Uh...yeah," said Karl as he rubbed his now sore side. "I have to go to the bathroom, do I need a pass?"

"No," replied Marion. "But tonight's homework will be on the codes."

Karl stared at Marion in shock at what she had just said.

"Homework?" he asked in disbelief before he decided that he had had enough before grumbling, "forget it".

Marion watch silently as Karl dismissed himself from the class. Tabitha and David looked at one another with non-surprised looks upon their features.

"Just as I figured," whispered Tabitha quietly to her brother. "Karl will always give up on everything that's school related."

David couldn't help but nod in agreement to what Tabitha had said before they returned their attention on Marion, who continued to teach the class about the codes of Dinotopia. It wasn't long before school was done for today and the children begin to head for home. David, Tabitha and Shorty were the last ones out of the school with Marion walking with them. Tabitha soon stopped as she turned to face Marion and David.

"Well, this is where we part ways," said Tabitha with a smile. "I'm going to be wandering around the city for a bit before heading back to Zippo's house."

"Okay, just don't stay out too long," cautioned David with a serious look upon his features.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," said Tabitha with a humorous eye roll. "Besides, I have Shorty with me."

Shorty chirped happily on Tabitha's shoulder at the mention of his name. Tabitha turned and began to walk, but stopped as she turned to give David a playful smile.

"Have a good time with Marion, David," said Tabitha.

David blushed as he gave Tabitha a scowl, while his half-sister only giggled at him before she ran off into the crowed. David rolled his eyes at the disappearing form of his sister before he and Marion walked off together to hang out.

Scene change: Palace

Mayor Waldo was in his office, writing down a few things on a piece of paper before one of his human advisors came walking into the room with a fearful and serious look upon his face. Waldo looked up to gaze at his advisor in curiosity before asking him what was wrong. His advisor was a little hesitant at first, but soon spoke after swallowing down a lump in his throat.

"Mayor Waldo, a Beast Man has come to speak to you. He says that it is of great importance." The man said in a nervous voice.

At the mention of 'Beast Man', Mayor Waldo grew tense with fear before he stood up from his desk.

"Tell this Beast Man that I have more important things to do right now and that I do not wish to see him," ordered Mayor Waldo.

"Is that so," said a voice from the office door.

Mayor Waldo and his advisor quickly turned their attention towards the open door of the office, and saw Chui standing there with his arms crossover his chest. The panther's face held a serious look as he glared at Mayor Waldo before he let his arms fall to his sides, and he began to walk towards the human. Mayor Waldo fell back into his chair as he stared fearfully up at the Beast Man that now stood in front of his desk. Chui glared down at Mayor Waldo with his intense golden amber eyes before turning his gaze on the advisor, who was trying to walk out of the room without being noticed.

"You will be staying here as well, little man," said Chui as the advisor froze and stood as stiff as a board in the corner. "You will be a witness to this conversation that I will be having with your mayor."

"Y-y-yes sir," said the advisor in a stutter.

Chui let out a huff before he turned to look back at Mayor Waldo again, who sat stiffly within his chair. There was a tense silence for a moment before Chui finally spoke.

"I came here to talk to you about a situation that can no longer be ignored," said Chui with a hard look upon his features.

"S-s-situation?" questioned Mayor Waldo with a stutter.

Chui let out a huff as he stared at the man in front of him in exhaustion before he continued on with what he needed to say to the Mayor of Waterfall City.

"My village has sent me to talk to you about the Sunstones," said Chui with in a patient voice. "You have probably been informed by most of your people that some of the Sunstones around the island have been going out."

"I-I-I have no idea what you are talking a..."

Chui cut Waldo off by slamming his paw/hands down on the surface of the mayor's table as his patient was starting to stretch to its thinnest.

"Are you that ignorant to the world around you, you incompetent fool?" growled Chui in a dangerous voice. "If you keep ignoring to what's being playing out before you than your only source of protection against those predatory dinosaurs' will fail. Thus all the predatory dinosaurs will come knocking on your palace doors when you least expect it!"

Waldo soon grew flustered and furious with the panther in front of him before he quickly stood up in his chair to glare eye to eye with the Beast Man.

"I don't know how you got into Waterfall City, but you can just turn right back around and head back to your village." Mayor said angrily as he pointed to the door of his office. "And tell your people that if any of your kind ever set foot into Waterfall City again I..."

"Your threats are empty Mayor of Waterfall City," interrupted Chui with a glare. "You and your people have no back bone to defend yourselves against the major threats that are coming closer to both your Cities, and Villages with each passing day, much less against my own people."

Chui soon stood up to his full height again before he turned and began to make his way towards the door of the office, but he paused in his steps as he turned to look over his shoulder to glance at the mayor once again.

"I have given you my warning of the danger that is to come," added Chui with narrowed eyes. "What you decide to do is all up to you, Mayor of Waterfall City."

With that said, Chui turned and walked out of the office with the end of his cloak flowing behind him. Mayor Waldo and his advisor let out a collective sigh as he slumped into his chair. His encounter with Chui had left him exhausted and nerved wracked before he and his advisor shared a look of fear between each other.

Scene: Tabitha

Outside in the streets of Waterfall City, Tabitha was walking around as she took in the sights of the city. Tabitha looked through the windows of shops to see what they had in them before heading for the next shop. While she was doing that, Shorty was sleeping on her shoulders again as he wrapped himself loosely around her neck. Tabitha soon came to a shop that held some old style musical instruments in its window, but her eyes lingered on one musical instrument that reminded her of her childhood.

Sitting on a wooden stand was a violin that looked to be made of the finest wood and was polished to perfection. Tabitha remembered how she used to play the violin when she was little. She had once performed in her school recital when she had been six years old, and the person who taught her how to play the violin...had been her mother.

At one time, Tabitha would try not to remember the painful memories of losing her mother, but over time Tabitha began to let herself fall into the memories that she had created with her mother. While there were some memories that were painful for her to remember. Tabitha would always remember the happier times she had spent with her mother, and through those happier memories, Tabitha felt as if her mother was still with her. Watching over her in spirit, even while she was stranded on this island where dinosaurs are still alive and living together with humans.

Tabitha continued to look at the violin within the store's window for a while before she started to turn to continue her walk down the street. But she was not paying attention when she turned away from the window, and thus bumped into someone else who was also not paying attention to where they were going. Tabitha soon found herself falling down to the ground along with the person she had bumped into as she landed down hard onto her backside.

"Ow!" exclaimed bother Tabitha and the person.

Shorty let out a squawk of surprise as he tightened his grip on Tabitha's shoulders before he glared at the person who had caused his friend to fall down. Tabitha let out a groan before she turned to glare at the person that had bumped into her, and was about to yell at him, but her words quickly died in her throat when she got a good look at the person.

The person that she had bumped into wasn't actually a human at all, but an anthropomorphic fox with reddish orange fur. The fox had white fur running down from underneath his muzzle, throat, chest and stomach. The fur on the fox's paw/hands, arms and legs were a dark reddish brown, and its tail was tipped with a bit of reddish brown along with its ears.

The fox was wearing a brown hooded cloak over top of a dark green sleeveless shirt, and tan colored shorts that were a little frayed at the edge of the leggings. Around the fox's waist was a leather hip bag that had some kind of strange markings on it. Tabitha knew by just taking one look at the fox that it was male by the way his body structure was made.

The fox let out a groan as he opened his eyes to reveal golden brown orbs that stared at Tabitha, while his face was scrunched up in pain. His expression soon changed from pain to fear when he saw Tabitha staring straight at him, and realized that the hood of his cloak had fallen off. Tabitha quickly understood the fox's fear as she jumped to her feet and looked around to see if anybody was looking. The fox also stood up as well as he looked around in fear at the people that were walking around the street. Luckily, none of the citizens of Waterfall City had turned their attention on Tabitha and the fox. The citizens seemed to be completely oblivious to what was going on around them. Tabitha then surprised the fox by quickly grabbing his right paw/hand, and dragging him into a nearby alleyway. Once they were hidden in the shadows of the alley, Tabitha let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close," muttered Tabitha before she looked at the fox.

Now that the fox was standing up straighter, Tabitha could see that he was at least an inch taller than her. The fox was looking at her with wide eyes that mirrored befuddlement within their depths. Tabitha snapped the fox out of his confusion by speaking to him in a calm voice.

"You might want to gather yourself up and pull your hood back over your head," she advised.

The fox blinked in surprise at the calm voice that Tabitha spoke in, but he quickly did as he was told as he pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head again before he spoke.

"Y-you aren't afraid of me?" asked the fox curiously.

The fox's voice was slightly deep and smooth when he spoke, and Tabitha could only guess that he was only a teenager, probably around her age or so.

"Not really," replied Tabitha with a shrug of her shoulders. "Besides, I've seen things that are a lot scarier than you on this island."

"That's comforting to hear," muttered the fox in sarcasm.

Shorty squeaked from Tabitha's shoulder as he glared slightly at the fox in front of him. The fox quickly noticed Shorty and stepped back in fright at the sight of him.

"What on Dinotopia is that thing?!" exclaimed the fox with wide and fearful eyes.

"This little guy's name is Shorty." Tabitha replied in a calm voice as she pointed to her little companion, who sat on her shoulder. "And he's...well, a dragon."

The fox stared at her in confusion "A what?"

"A dragon," repeated Tabitha casually. "And my name's Tabitha, the new comer on this island."

The fox stared at Tabitha in surprise as he began to relax around her and Shorty before speaking.

"I should have known that you're not like the other humans on this island." The fox muttered as he looked Tabitha up and down. "What with you wearing strange clothing like that."

Tabitha raised an eyebrow up at what the fox had just said before crossing her arms as she gave him a disapproving look.

"I don't know whether to be insulted by that statement or not," said Tabitha with Shorty huffing back in agreement.

The fox's fur frizzed for a moment when he realized what he had said, and he quickly started to correct himself.

"W-w-what I meant to say is...A...is that you're clothing is more fashionable than what the other people within Waterfall City are wearing and...A..." The fox trailed off as he found that he didn't have anything else to cover up his mistake before bowing his head in defeat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you or anything."

Tabitha continued to stare at the fox for a minute before chuckling at his antics. She then held out her right hand towards him.

"I'm just messing with you," said Tabitha with a friendly smile. "But I would like to know your name though."

The fox blinked before looking down at the hand that was offered to him then looked back up at Tabitha with a smile.

"My name is Tod," said the fox as he shook hands with Tabitha.

"Nice to meet you Tod," Said Tabitha before she and the fox let go of each other's hands. "So what brings you here to Waterfall City?"

Tod hesitated for a moment as he looked at Tabitha with distrusting eyes for a sec before looking down at the ground below his bare feet.

"I'm looking for a friend that came here to Waterfall City," answered Tod in a low voice.

Tabitha raised an eyebrow at Tod for a moment before realization crossed over her face. Tabitha then leaned forward and began to speak to Tod in a whisper so that no one else could hear their conversation.

"He wouldn't happen to be a large leopard going by the name of Chui, would he?" asked Tabitha in a soft voice.

Tod snapped his head up in surprise as he stared at Tabitha in fear and distrust.

"How did you know his name was 'Chui'?" questioned Tod with a hiss.

"I met him last night," answered Tabitha with a reassuring smile. "He helped me when I got lost wandering around Waterfall City, and got ganged up on by a couple of drunken men."

Tod stared at Tabitha in surprise when she said the Chui saved her from a group of drunken men last night.

"That's weird," voiced Tod as he took on a thoughtful look. "Why would Chui go out of his way to save you? I mean the Beast Men and the humans of Dinotopia aren't exactly best friends."

"Why's that?" asked Tabitha curiously, while Shorty cocked his head to the side.

Tod didn't answer for a moment as he looked out of the alleyway's entrance for a moment before looking back at Tabitha again.

"I'd prefer that we talk in a place where we won't have anyone interrupting us," whispered Tod.

"Then I suggest that we move to the rooves of the city." A familiar voice spoke in the alleyway behind the duo.

Tabitha, Shorty and Tod flinched at the voice before looking into the alleyway to see Chui standing in front of them with his hood up.

"Chui!" exclaimed Tod in surprise.

Chui shushed the fox before motioning for the trio to follow him deeper into the alleyway, with the two teens quietly trailing behind him. About a second or two, the foursome stopped as Chui looked up towards the roof that towered above their heads.

"That should be a good place to talk," voiced Chui with a rumble in his voice.

Tabitha looked up to the roof with a slight frown upon her features. 'He can't be serious,' was the thought that went through her head before looking up at the Chui.

"Um...how exactly are we supposed to get up there?" asked Tabitha before she turned her gaze up towards the roof again. "I don't see any ladders or stairs that can help us climb up there."

"Us Beast Men don't need any ladders or stairs to help us get up to high places." Chui said as he looked down at Tabitha with an amused look on his face.

Tabitha looked back at him in confusion for a moment before Chui surprised Tabitha by wrapping one muscular arm around her waist, and lifting her up from the ground. Before she could give any protest, Chui bent his legs and jumped into the air. Tabitha let out a surprise yelp as Chui's jump sent him flying higher than anyone Tabitha had seen. They flew out of the alleyway and landed on the roof of the building. Tod flew out of the alleyway a second later after Chui had landed on the roof. Chui knelt as he set Tabitha gently down onto the surface of the roof top. She had a surprised and dazed look on her face, while Shorty sat tensed on her shoulders.

"Woah...that was something that I wasn't expecting." Tabitha voiced in a breathless voice before she looked up at Chui, who continued to kneel beside her. "How did you guys jump like that?"

"It's something that all of us Beast Men can do." Tod said with a smirk on his face as he drew back his hood and cupped his hands behind his head. "When you've been living in the Rainy Basin for most of your life, you tend to have to think quickly. We also needed keep on your toes when we're being chased by T-rex's once in a while."

"You guys live in the Rainy Basin?" asked Tabitha as she slowly stood up after she was sure she was able to.

"Yes," replied Chui as he stood up to his full height beside her, while also drawing his hood back as well. "You see, our tribe is not really liked among the humans and dinosaurs of this island. So we live in the Rainy Basin, far away from the humans and plant eating dinosaurs of the cities and villages. They see us as unnatural beings on this island, and consider us dangerous among their kind."

Tabitha frowned sadly as she stared up at Chui along with Shorty, who had finally relaxed on her shoulders, before turning to look at Tod who was sitting on the edge of the roof.

"Though imagine our surprise when we meet you," said Tod as he pointed towards her. "You're the first human that we've met that doesn't seem afraid of us."

Tabitha blushed as she raised her hand up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her left ear.

"Well...I guess you could say I'm a bit of an odd ball within my mixed up family," said Tabitha with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "My mother always told me to see past what people looked like on the outside, and get to know them before I judge them."

"Your mother must be a wise woman to tell you that," spoke Chui in a solemn voice.

Tabitha looked up at Chui with a sad smile appearing on her face.

"Yeah, you could say that she was one of a kind."

Chui gazed down at Tabitha with his piercing eyes staring straight into her own, as if he was looking right into her very soul. Tabitha quickly turned her head away before clearing her voice.

"So if you guys aren't supposed to be in cities or villages, what are you doing here in Waterfall City?"

"I've been meaning to ask the same question as well to my companion." Chui said as he turned his gaze on Tod with a raised eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be back in the village with the other members of our tribe young fox?"

"Sorry Chui," said Tod with a sheepish smile on his face. "After I heard about you going to Waterfall City to see the Mayor about the 'You-know-what'. I had to come here to see that you didn't do anything too rash."

Chui let out a low growl within his throat as he glared at Tod. Tabitha became curious as to why Chui had needed to see the Mayor of Waterfall City, and couldn't help asking the question that popped into her head.

"What exactly did you need to see the Mayor for?" asked Tabitha.

Chui glanced down at Tabitha for a second before letting out a sad sigh.

"Since you and your half-brothers are stuck here on this island. Then it is best that you should know what is happening around here."

Chui turned his head towards a large tower that stood tall in the middle of the city. Tabitha also looked towards the tower, and she couldn't help but be amazed at the sheer size of the building.

"That...is one big tower," stated Tabitha.

"That tower is the holding place of the Prime Sunstone," spoke Chui as he continued to stare up at the tall structure before him. "The Prime Sunstone helps restore power to all of the sunstones that are being held within the villages and cities, which are spread out all over the island. The people here say that the Prime Sunstone is the most powerful among all the sunstones, and that it's almost completely flawless."

"That sounds pretty amazing," said Tabitha as she turned her gaze on Chui again. "But...where exactly do sunstones come from?"

"The people of Dinotopia say that the sunstones came from the World Beneath, and were mined from there." Tod answered as he walked up to stand beside Tabitha. "You could say that the sunstones are pretty old. The humans use to find a lot of them on the island after the entrance to the World Beneath had closed up. But now sunstones are pretty rare to find these days."

Tabitha glanced at Tod for a moment before Shorty let out a chirp that caused her to look at her dragon friend for a moment. She saw that Shorty was staring up at the tower and quickly turned her gaze towards the structure. She saw a white light glowing from the very top of the tower. She stared in amazement at the sight before her.

Tabitha turned glance at Tod again.

"That's the Prime Sunstone, right?"

"That's right," replied Tod with a nod of his head. "It's that time again to reenergize the other sunstones around the island."

"Which won't do much good," muttered Chui in a low voice.

Tabitha, Tod and Shorty turned their gazes on the leopard in confusion. Tabitha felt something cold grow slowly within her stomach at Chui's words.

"What do you mean, Chui?" she asked.

Chui didn't answer for a moment as he continued to stare up at the tower before him. He soon took in a deep breath before he answered Tabitha's question.

"The sunstones on this island are going out," spoke Chui as he kept his gaze upon the tower. "As you were probably told, the sunstones are the cities and villages source of protection."

"Yeah." Tabitha voiced as she remember the destroyed village that she, and her half-brothers had stumbled upon before they came to Waterfall City. "I saw a dead sunstone in a village that had been attacked by T-rex's."

"Then you should know this." Chui said before he turned his gaze on Tabitha as a serious expression appeared on his face. "The sunstones will soon go out, along with the Prime Sunstone. Once they die out there will be no protection against the meat eaters that will come after you and the other humans."

Tabitha went pale as she stared up at Chui in fear, while Shorty let out a whimper as he curled around Tabitha's neck. So...Dinotopia isn't a perfect paradise after all. It was a place where humans lived in ignorance of what was happening around them, and a Mayor that didn't realize the danger that was arising on the island. Tabitha turned her gaze up towards the tower again as she stared up at the bright light of the Prime Sunstone. A large hand gently touched Tabitha's head, which brought her out of her thoughts before she turned to look up at Chui, who was the owner of the hand. Chui was looking down at her with a stoic expression upon his face, but Tabitha saw sadness and sympathy within his eyes.

"It's best that you do not tell anyone else about what you've learned from us, Tabitha." Chui said in a gentle voice as he removed his hand from Tabitha's head. "The people here within Waterfall City won't believe you if you told them of the danger. You must also keep our meeting a secret as well."

Tabitha looked up at Chui in confusion before Tod stepped in.

"If the humans on Dinotopia found out that you've befriended us then they might think you've taken our side or something." Tod explained with a sad frown. "If they did then they'll consider you an enemy to them, and throw you out of this city."

Understanding came over Tabitha as she nodded her head at Tod.

"Alright, I'll keep our meeting a secret."

Chui nodded his head before he turned to look up at the sky to see that the sun was setting.

"The day is almost done," voiced Chui before he turned to Tabitha once again. "We should end our conversation now so that you can get back to the librarian's home."

"Yeah, Zippo and David are probably worried about me," said Tabitha with a smile.

Chui nodded his head before kneeling down to wrap his arm around Tabitha again. Tabitha allowed the leopard to wrap his arm around her waist as he picked her up. Chui leapt back down into the alleyway with Tod following right behind them. The sensation of falling caused Tabitha's stomach to jump a little, but the landing that came after was something she had not expected. When Chui landed on his feet, it was light and silent, and Tabitha didn't even feel the jolt from the landing. She was set back down onto her feet again before Chui stood up to his full height, with Tod standing right beside him.

"I have to admit that you two are pretty amazing," said Tabitha with a smile.

Tod puffed out his chest in pride, while Chui only returned Tabitha's smile with one of his own.

"You're a smart girl, Tabitha," praised Chui as he knelt down to Tabitha's height. "Make sure you study hard within Waterfall City, and stay out of trouble."

Tabitha nodded her head as Shorty let out a chirp from her shoulder. Chui chuckled at the little dragon before he spoke to Shorty.

"You make sure you keep an eye on your friend little one."

Shorty let out another chirp before purring as Tabitha gently scratched him underneath the chin. Chui and Tod lifted the hoods of their cloaks over their heads again to hide their faces from the people of Waterfall City. Chui looked down at Tabitha one last time as he gave her a gentle smile.

"Goodbye, Tabitha," said Chui softly. "You, Shorty and your half-brothers take care of yourselves."

"And if you're ever in the Rainy Basin, drop by and say hello," said Tod with a playful wink.

Tabitha let out a chuckle at Tod's offer before answering him.

"I'll see if I can after I get my Saurian partner."

The two Beast Men nodded their heads at Tabitha before they turned, and began to walk down the opposite end of the alleyway. Tabitha and Shorty watched them walk away before she turned, and began to walk the opposite way they were going. As she walked, the words' of the two Beast Men echoed through her head, and the thought of the sunstones going out weighed heavily in her mind.

To Be Continued

White Hunter, howling out to you and creativity!


	6. Chapter 6

A New World

Hey everyone, I'm back with another chapter of my Dinotopia crossover. I hope you all enjoy it and please, leave reviews to tell me what you think of it.

Chapter six: Sibling Talk and the Sunstone Parade

Tabitha was able to make it back to Zippo's home on time before the sun fully disappeared from the sky. David has also arrived back on time before Tabitha. He was currently reading one of his footprint language books for homework in their bedroom. Tabitha walked over to David, while Shorty flew off from her shoulder, and landed on the bed that belonged to his female human friend. Tabitha sat down in one of the chairs within the room, and took one of the books that she and David had to read for homework. She was looking through the footprint alphabet with the regular alphabet drawn underneath it. She studied each one carefully before she decided to look through one of the books that only had the Saurian footprint lettering in it.

"So where have you been this evening?" asked David curiously without looking up from his book.

"Just walking around," answered Tabitha as she glanced up to look at David for a quick sec before looking back down at her book again. "They have a lot of stores around here that are pretty interesting, not to mention a music story with old looking instruments in it."

David let out a chuckle. "I remember when you used to play violin when you were little. You were one of the best players that our school ever had at recital competitions."

Tabitha didn't answer but she did let a sad smile spread out on her face. It was quiet between the two half-siblings for a while before Tabitha let out a sigh. She closed her book, and placed it down on her lap before she turned her gaze on David.

"David...Do you ever get a little homesick once in a while?" asked Tabitha curiously.

David looked up from his book to gaze at Tabitha in surprise before he let out a sigh. He closed his book, and placed on his lap as he thought over the question that his half-sister had asked him.

"Sometimes," answered David honestly with a shrug of his shoulders. "What about you, are you a little homesick?"

"Not really to be honest with you," replied Tabitha with a shake of her head. "I mean, sure this place is going to take some getting used to, but I can't help feeling that I belong here in this place. I don't really have anything to go back home to outside of the island's borders, because I don't really have anyone waiting for me there."

David gazed at his half-sister in sympathy for he knew how tough it was for her back home. Tabitha didn't really have any friends to call her own at school, and she always had a hard time with Karl and their dad when she had been living with them. Tabitha then looked sadly at David with a light frown on her face.

"At least you have someone who would be waiting for you back home," said Tabitha gently.

David knew 'who' that someone was when his half-sister mentioned them, and couldn't help but sigh softly.

"I know," voiced David quietly. "But you know as well as I do that there's no way off of this island without getting ourselves killed on the razor reef."

"Yeah," muttered Tabitha with a nod before a friendly smile came over her face. "But that doesn't mean you have to forget your mother, right?"

David let out a chuckle as he nodded his head in agreement. Even though he's in a new place with his half-siblings, doesn't mean that he should forget his mother. Tabitha nodded back at her brother before a cheeky smile appeared on her face.

"So...how was your date with Marion?" questioned Tabitha in a teasing voice.

A blush appeared on David's cheeks as he stared at Tabitha with a startled expression before he frowned at her.

"It wasn't a date!" exclaimed David in a flustered voice. "Marion and I are just friends. Besides, I barely even know her!"

Tabitha laughed at her half-brother before David opened his book, and continued to study his footprint language. Tabitha decided to leave her brother alone as she stood up from her chair, and made her way to the bedroom door. Shorty, who had been napping for a few seconds, stood up from the bed and flew over to Tabitha. When the little dragon reached her, he alighted on her shoulders. David noticed Tabitha leaving the room and became curious as to what she was doing.

"Where are you going?"

Tabitha turned to look at her half-brother with a reassuring smile on her face.

"I'm just going into the living room to help Zippo with an old book that he found in the library," answered Tabitha. "The words in the book are written in old Norse runes that he can't understand, so I'm helping him translate them."

"Then that should keep you occupied for a while," muttered David as he went back to reading his book.

Tabitha rolled her eyes good naturedly before opening the door, and closing it softly behind her. Tabitha walked into the living room to see Zippo sitting in one of his chairs as he read a scroll from the library. The sound of fast pace jazz music played within the room, while the librarian's foot bounced to the rhythm of the beat. Tabitha smiled and decided to let Zippo read his scroll for a while. She walked over to the table where the 'Book of Dragons' was sitting on. Tabitha pulled up a chair at the table and picked up the book. Shorty leaped from her shoulder to sit on the surface of the table. Tabitha opened the book, and began to read through it as she swept her gaze over the runes that were written on the pages. She had to admit that the art work within the book was well drawn. She had a hard time believing the book was a century old. The reason for her doubts about the book's age was because the book looked as if it had been publish only yesterday.

The book's covering was in top condition along with the pages. The drawings and runes on the pages weren't faded or smudged, and were in excellent detail. Tabitha gazed at some of the pictures of the dragons that were drawn in the book, while reading what type of dragon, or class, they were. Shorty was lying on the table asleep for a few moments, before his head shot up when he heard the door to Zippo's home being open. Tabitha glanced up from the book for a second to see Karl walking through the hallway as he made his way to their bedroom. Tabitha heard him open the door, and closing it behind him before she went back to reading her book. It was quiet in the house for a moment, but it was soon disturbed by the sound of something hitting against the wall within bedroom.

' _Honesty, can't he find something quieter to do?_ ' thought Tabitha in annoyance as she continued to read through the book.

She soon came to a page that had a dragon with a unique design and shape. Tabitha looked up at the name that was written above the dragon, and quietly read the name in a low voice.

"Night Fury," she whispered.

Tabitha raised an eyebrow at the name before taking in the details of the dragon. Its body was long a sleek, almost like a panther's, but Tabitha could see that it had strong muscles in the core of its body. It had ear like appendages, and nubs protruding from its head, which kind of reminded Tabitha of an axolotl that she had once seen as a little girl when her mother had been researching them. The wings on its back were like that of a bat's wings, but it also had secondary wings at the base of its tail right near its rump, and two fins near the end of its tail. The dragon's head was triangular and somewhat flat with a few small spines running up the middle of its forehead, and it had a short neck. It also had larger spines that ran down from the middle of its back all the way down to the end of its tail.

Tabitha became curious about this dragon before she stared to ready silently about the description of it.

' _ **The Night Fury**_

 _ **Also known as the unholy offspring of lighting and death itself. Not much is known about this mysterious dragon, and there have been rare sightings of this elusive being. It is of the 'Striker Class' with powerful jaw strength, are extremely intelligent, have incredible firepower and blazing speed. Hardy any Viking has ever had the chance to seen a Night Fury up close, nor were they able to get the chance to study it in its natural habitat. They can be aggressive to any form of threat they find, and they never miss when they shoot out plasmas fireballs from their mouth. They have retractable teeth so that the Night Fury can protect them from being chipped or broken.**_

 _ **Night Furies have a great sense of hearing, and are able to find their way through the dark by using echolocation. They are deep black, which enables them to be to blend into the night sky as they fly.**_ '

' _Whoa, that's a lot of information,_ ' thought Tabitha with an amused huff.

Suddenly, Tabitha heard Karl shouting in the bedroom, and became curious as to what was going on. She closed the book and was about to get up when she heard the bedroom door being slammed open. Karl stomped out of the bedroom and headed towards the front door. He furiously opened the door and when he was outside, he slammed the door behind him. Tabitha frowned in confusion, while Shorty cocked his head curiously before he and Tabitha looked at one another. Zippo spoke up from his chair as he shook his head with a sigh.

He then muttered under his breath as he turned his eyes back onto his scroll "Mammals."

Tabitha gave Zippo an amused look before she placed the book on the table, and got up from the chair that she had been sitting in. Shorty quickly flew up onto Tabitha's shoulders again as she made her way to the bedroom. The door to the bedroom was wide open, and when Tabitha looked inside she saw her half-brother sitting in the chair with an angry look on his face. Tabitha sighed before she entered the bedroom, while closing the door quietly behind her. She walked over to her half-brother, and sat down on the bed that Karl was occupying. Shorty scurried down from Tabitha's shoulder and sat down in her lap, while Tabitha began to gently pet his back. The two half-siblings sat in silence for a moment before Tabitha finally spoke in a calm voice.

"You mind telling me what happened between you and Karl?" asked Tabitha with a raised eyebrow.

For a moment, David didn't answer Tabitha's question, but after a moment he slumped in his chair and began to talk.

"We had an argument about leaving the island again," muttered David as he stood up from his chair and began to pace the room. "He is so stubborn and you know how he gets when an idea comes into his head, Karl will go with it. I then brought up how it wasn't me who was flying the plane, and that caused him to become really pissed at me."

Tabitha sighed as she rubbed the back of her head. "You should have known that that comment would cause him to blow a gasket."

David turned to look at Tabitha with an exhausted look on his face. Tabitha motioned for David to sit down in his chair, and he did as she gestured.

"Karl was closer to Frank than you and I have been," said Tabitha in a calm voice. "I think he does carry the blame on his shoulders and felt like it was his fault, but he will take his rage out on anyone or anything. When that happens, Karl will place the blame on them, and believing that it will help him take the blame off of himself."

David gazed at his sister in amazement before letting out a small chuckle. Tabitha blinked as she looked at her half-brother curiously.

"What?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Since when have you become so wise and grown up?" questioned David in humor.

Tabitha shrugged her shoulders while giving him a smile. "Someone has to be the calm headed sibling in the group."

The two siblings shared a chuckled between each other before calming down. They were quiet for a moment before David spoke up again as he stared at Tabitha with a soft gaze.

"I'm glad that you're here Tabitha," said David with a smile, "It make's living here with Karl more bearable."

Tabitha blinked in surprise at what her half-brother had said. She then smiled at David as she felt a soft and gentle warmth growing within her heart.

"Same here David, same here" said Tabitha.

The conversation between the two half-siblings soon ended, and they both went to bed that night with their minds more at ease. But when Tabitha started to dream, she had a nightmare about the Prime Sunstone going out, and the predator dinosaurs entering the through the front gates of Waterfall City.

* * *

The next day came as Tabitha got herself ready for the day. Karl had come back late last night, which caused Tabitha to become suspicious of his actions. Yet she didn't say anything about it. During the afternoon, the half-siblings had gotten three letters, which had been sent to them by Marion. Tabitha had left Karl's letter on the chessboard, where it was held up between two chest pieces. Karl picked up the letter and opened it before he asked his half-siblings about the letters.

"Did you guys get one of these?"

David, who was sitting on his bed, while writing on a paper with a feather quill, answered with a hum of acknowledgement. Tabitha answered with a nod as she looked over her own letter. She was lying on her back upon her own bed, with Shorty sleeping on top of her stomach. Tabitha quietly read the letter to herself, while going over each word carefully before smiling at what it said. Unfortunately for Karl, he wasn't able to understand the Saurian writing since he skipped out on his beginner class.

"What's it say?" he asked as he walked over to David.

"It's an invitation from Marion," answered David with a raised eyebrow.

"Great," said Karl as he grew excited when he heard the girl's name. "What for?"

Tabitha smirked as she watched David ignore Karl's question as he continued to look down at his paper, while he wrote notes on its surface.

"Hello," said Karl sarcastically.

"Can't you read?" questioned David as he threw a sarcasm right back at Karl.

Karl glared at his brother in anger after being caught off guard by what he said.

"You got a big mouth, anyone ever tell you that." Karl stated with a growl.

"Only you, Karl," said David with a smirk before he stood up.

David began to look around on his bed for something that would help his half-brother in reading the letter. Karl then turned his attention onto Tabitha, who was smirking as she continued to lie on her bed.

"And what about you?" questioned Karl angrily. "Don't you have any smart remarks to say to me?"

"Not really," replied Tabitha calmly. "Only that you shouldn't have skipped out on the footprint language class at school in the first place, than you would have known what was written in that letter Marion gave to us."

Karl growled at Tabitha for a second before David handed him a book that he picked up from his bed.

"Here you go," said David.

Karl looked down at the book and frowned when he read the title of it, which said: FOOTPRINT LANGUAGE FOR BEGINNERS.

"Thanks," he grumbled as he walked away to reluctantly study.

He was only going to do learn this language so that he can find out what was written in the letter Marion had sent him.

"You're welcome," replied David with a smirk.

Tabitha smirked too before she turned her attention back onto Shorty. She began to gently pet the little dragon on the back as a calm expression appeared on her face. Tonight was going to be interesting for all of them.

* * *

Nightfall soon came over the city as everyone gathered at Fountain Square. Every human and Dinosaur was there as they got ready for the Sunstone Parade that would commence. David, Tabitha, Shorty and Zippo were already there as they took their seats within Fountain Square. They had chosen front row seats to have a better view of the celebration. Shorty sat on his usual perch, which was Tabitha's shoulders, while he stared around excitedly at his surroundings.

"It's quite fantastic, isn't it," said Zippo excitedly before he informed the two humans about the evens for tonight's parade. "You'll scarcely believe your eyes. The theme this year is the World Beneath."

"Really?" said Tabitha with a curious look.

"So...the World Beneath really exists?" asked David.

"According to legend, it was the place where the Sunstones were originally found," explained Zippo with a smile before he turned his gaze towards the stage. "The heart of Dinotopia."

"Whoa," voiced Tabitha with a smile on her face. "Then this is going to be an interesting night event."

She then noticed that they were missing Karl and began to look around to see if she could spot his face within the crowed. David quickly noticed Karl's absence too as he swept his gaze over the people and Dinosaurs around him.

"Where's Karl?" he asked.

"*sigh* who knows," muttered Tabitha as she gave up looking for Karl. "He's never really around when you need him. I swear, he'd miss his own birthday party if he wanted to."

Shorty let out a scratchy laugh at what Tabitha had said before he nuzzled the side of the girl's face. Tabitha grinned at the little dragon before she gently scratched him underneath the chin. The crowed began to grow silent and Zippo began to stretch his neck up to look over the heads of the people.

"Oh, oh look," pointed Zippo. "I'm so excited, the ceremony's about to begin."

"Calm down, Zippo," said Tabitha with a chuckle. "If you get too excited you might wind up bouncing right out of your seat."

Though Tabitha couldn't help but feel excited too as she looked towards the palace stairs. The guards lit the torches to give the crowed better lighting. Then there was a groan as two Brachiosauruses stood near the palace. One of them slowly lifted itself up onto its back legs before roaring as it came down with a loud stomp. The stomp was accompanied by the pounding of a drum. The pounding of the drum and the stomping of the Brachiosaurus kept time with each other as the trumpets blared out a fanfare tune. That was when Mayor Waldo appeared to stand in front of the citizens of Waterfall City. He was dressed in a black robe with golden patterns etched on its surface. The Brachiosaurus gave one final stomp before Mayor Waldo began to tell the story of the World Beneath.

"Long ago, a terrible darkness struck the earth. The seas churned and the skies turned black, and the light of the sun was lost from the land."

Tabitha quickly looked up when she saw the Prime Sunstone's light disappearing within the tower. She could only guess that one or two of the citizens of the city had covered the Prime Sunstone. Tabitha turned her head to look at Zippo with a concerned expression upon her face.

"Um...is that really a good idea to cover the Prime Sunstone like that?" she asked.

"Don't worry," reassured Zippo with a smile. "It is only temporary, it'll be uncovered again in a moment."

Tabitha was still a little unsure, but decided not to worry about it for a while. She turned her attention back onto Waldo, who continued to tell the story of the World Beneath.

"Our ancestors sought refuge in caves deep below the earth, where they found food and shelter, and magical stones which brought them light."

Tabitha listened intently to the story as she let herself be drawn into its tale. She could almost picture what the caves looked like with Sunstones glowing all around the Dinosaurs and people that had seaked shelter from the darkness.

"A young girl left the safety of the World Beneath, and climbed up to the surface. A Sunstone illuminating her way."

The trumpets let out another fanfare tune before Mayor Waldo continued on with tale of how the Sunstones came up from the World Beneath.

"Higher and heigher she climb in the darkness, not know that it was night."

He gestured towards where the rules of Dinotopia stood. Tabitha, David, Shorty and Zippo turned to look as they saw a bright light illuminating from where the stone pillar stood. A figure in shadow slowly appeared from out of the light before it came into view. It was a woman, wearing a black ceremonial dress with a small Sunstone hanging from her neck. Tabitha took one look at the figure and smiled excitedly before she whispered to David.

"It's Marion," she voice.

David had a surprised and happy expression before he, Tabitha, Zippo and all the citizens of Dinotopia stood up and began to applaude. Marion smiled warmly to the crowed, while also glancing towards Tabitah and David. She was happened that her two friends came to the ceremony tonight to witness it.

"So beautiful," said Zippo in amazement.

"I have to say, Marion knows how to make an entrance," said Tabitha with a smile.

David nodded in agreement as they watched Marion walk down the steps with two human guards following behind her. Mayor Waldo had a proud smile on his face as his daughter walked towards him. The applause began to die down as Mayor Waldo continued on with the story.

"Centuries passed, and a great civilization evolved, but no one had ever seen the sun. Then the dawn came, and she saw that the skies had clear and that the sun shone once again."

The Prime Sunstone, which had been covered, began to glow brightly again over Waterfall City. Marion stood right next to her father as Mayor Waldo came to the epic conclusion of the story.

"Our ancestors followed her from the World Beneath, and they brought with them the magical stones, and they built Dinotopia. The world beneath was sealed. The great ruler, Ogthar, decreed that it would remain a sacred place, undisturbed forever more."

Everyone began to applaud when Mayor Waldo finished telling the story of the World Beneath. Fireworks were shot up into the sky as the people and Dinosaurs stared up in awe and amazement. Tabitha couldn't help but feel honored to be a part of a celebration that talked about the tales and the history of Dinotopia.

' _It's too bad that this happy peace won't be lasting long,_ ' thought Tabitha sadly to herself.

She still remembered the warning that Chui had given her before he and Tod had left Waterfall City. The warning weighed heavily within her mind, but she kept her worries to herself for she didn't want to cause a panic in Waterfall City.

' _Besides, they find out eventually,_ ' thought Tabitha. ' _I just hope they realize the danger before it's too late._ '

Tabitha continued to look up at the fireworks for a while before she suddenly caught something flying through the air, high above the fireworks and the city. She couldn't quiet see what it was but she could tell that whatever it was, it was pretty fast. Tabitha continued to gaze up at the air born object for a moment, before blinking in surprise when a ball of fire suddenly shot out in front of the object. The fireball then exploded about three feet in front of the flying figure. The figure flew towards the blast before it passed straight through it, and disappeared into thin air.

' _What was that?_ ' thought Tabitha in wonder.

* * *

After the ceremony was done, Tabitha, David, Shorty and Zippo began to head back to the house. They met up with Karl along the way to Zippo's house. The group was quiet as they walked down the street, except for David and Zippo as the two of them talked about the night's events. Tabitha became curious about Karl's absents to the ceremony, and decided to question him. She quickly grabbed Karl by the arm to stop him as David and Zippo continued to walk ahead of them. Not noticing that Karl and Tabitha had stopped walking behind him. Tabitha got in front of her half-brother as she glared up at him in distrust and suspicion.

"Okay, Karl, what the deal?" questioned Tabitha in a low voice.

"What do you mean?" asked Karl innocently.

"Don't play dumb," hissed Tabitha with a glare. "You were completely off the radar at the beginning of the ceremony after Marion had given you an invitation to it. You missed out on what the story was about."

"I was studying, okay?" said Karl with a growl. "I got so deep in learning about my footprint langue that I completely forgot until the last second. At least I made it before the end of the ceremony."

"You? Studying? Yeah, right," said Tabitha with an eye roll. "I've known you for a while now, and not once have I ever seen you study for your school exams."

"Then maybe you don't really know me at all," countered Karl angrily as he glared down at his half-sister.

Shorty let out a short warning hiss at Karl as he tensed up on Tabitha's shoulders. Tabitha bravely glared right back at her older half-sibling before speaking once again.

"Whatever game you're playing at Karl, you better watch it." Tabitha warned as she poked her brother in the center of his chest. "You're messing with things that will one day get you killed, while trying to find a way off of Dinotopia. And when you do try and fail to get off this island, don't expect me to come rescue you."

Tabitha then turned and began to follow after David and Zippo, while leaving a sour face Karl behind her in the darkness. Karl stood there for a moment before he quickly followed after his half-sister. Unknown to the half-siblings or Zippo, they were being watched by piercing, yet curious, green/blue eyes as a figure sat on the roof of a tall building. The figure's eyes were mostly focused on Tabitha as it took an interest in the young human girl, who had stood her ground in front of the older male. It continued to watch Tabitha for a while before it turned and disappeared into the night.

To be continued


	7. Chapter 7

A New World

Here's the next chapter of my 'Dinotopia' multiple crossover story. So to those who are following this story, I'm thinking of switch it from being a crossover and to put it in the Dinotopia section. I'm hoping that it might get more reviews in that section. Do you all think I should do that or just keep it where it is?

crocodilesmile55: I've seen a little bit of the first season of 'Trollhunters', but I lost interest in it after a while.

Chapter 7: Beginning of exams and catastrophes

A week had gone by after the Sunstone Parade and Tabitha had been studying really hard for her footprint exam, along with her half-brother David. They would study together as they helped one another in what they need to learn in their footprint language. During that time, Karl had also been studying for his exam with Marion helping him as his personal tutor. Tabitha grew annoyed when she found out that Karl had Marion helping him study, and was sick to know that he was getting special treatment from other people once again.

' _Just like how he got special treatment back home,_ ' thought Tabitha to herself.

The examination finally came for the three half-siblings. Tabitha and David were at their desks as they got ready to write their exam. Shorty was curled up on one of the bookshelves within the classroom as he took a short nap. The little dragon wanted to give Tabitha her space so that she can concentrate on her exam. As for Karl...he was absent within the class, which had Marion wondering where he is.

"Do you know where Karl is?" asked Marion curiously.

"He said that he was going to be a little late," answered Tabitha with a shrug. "But that he'll make it before the end of the exam."

Marion smiled at Tabitha before she turned her attention back onto the students within her class and began to speak to them.

"Alright class, your graduation question is 'how are we to live?'. You have an hour to answer in any way you wish, you may begin."

Marion turned over an hour glass and began to watch as her students got their papers and stampers ready. Tabitha paused as she thought over what she wanted to write before smiling when she came up with something. She began to write down her exam answer about how Dinotopia had become a part of her life, along with how Shorty changed her life as well. An hour went by as Tabitha, David and the children worked on their papers. Just then, they all heard the sound of the classroom door being open. Tabitha and David looked up from their papers for a sec to see Karl entering the room before they went back to writing their paper. Karl took a seat at his desk before picking up his stamper. Tabitha looked up to glance at Karl and narrowed her eyes suspiciously when she saw a sly smirk appear on his face. That was a look Tabitha knew all too well for it was a look that said Karl was up to something. She went back to writing the last lines of her footprint sentence before the sand within the hourglass finally ran out.

"Stop writing please," said Marion.

Everyone stopped what they were doing as they put down their writing stampers. Shorty woke up from his hour nap and stretched out his limbs before he flew over to Tabitha. She held out her arm for Shorty to land on before the little dragon took his place on her shoulder. Everyone was dismissed from class as they now had the whole day to themselves. Tabitha walked out of the school with David strolling along beside her, while Karl walked behind them a few feet. Tabitha trotted a few feet in front of David before she turned to walk backwards in front of him.

"I'll see you later, David." said Tabitha with a smile. "I'm going to be heading back to Zippo's house."

"You're going to look at that Norse book again?" asked David.

"Yep," answered with a wink. "Let's just say that the words within the book have really drawn me in."

"Okay, see you later," said David with a smile.

Tabitha nodded her head before she turned and began to run back to Zippo's house. Shorty held on tightly to Tabitha's shoulders as the girl raced down the street, while expertly dodging around people and dinosaurs. She was eager to get back to the librarian's home to continue reading the Book of Dragons. She wanted to find out what kind of dragon was able to disappear completely into thin air. Then, at the last second, she decided to go to the library to study up on more of Dinotopia and its history before going back to the house. Tabitha ran for about an hour before she came to the doors of the library and she slowed to a walk. Tabitha opened the door to the library and walked in. She was just walking down the halls when she saw Zippo looking through one of the book shelves with a worried expression upon his face. Tabitha quickly trotted towards him before coming to a stop beside the librarian.

"Zippo, what's wrong?"

"Oh, this is terrible," muttered Zippo as he turned to look at Tabitha. "A book...a book has been stolen from the library."

Tabitha and Shorty looked at one another with concerned expressions upon their faces. They had learned from Zippo that stealing books from the library was forbidden and considered a crime within Waterfall City. Tabitha looked back at Zippo before she calmly started to speak to him.

"Okay, calm down Zippo. Just take in a deep calming breath."

Zippo quickly did what Tabitha told him before exhaling as he tried to calm his nerves.

"Alright," said Tabitha in a serious voice. "Now tell me, which book was stolen here from the library?"

"Um...it was...Oh yes. It was the Captain's log of Rebecca's Folly," answered Zippo when he remembered the title of the book.

"A Captain's log?" repeated Tabitha with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," replied Zippo before he turned and began to look for the said book on another shelf. "It is a book that tells of the World Beneath and about Dinotopia."

"I see," said Tabitha as she took on a thoughtful expression. "Then there are only two possible reasons why anyone could have stolen it."

"I dread to ask, but...what two possible reason could there be for someone to have stolen it?"

"Well..." Tabitha hesitated before looking at the librarian with a grim expression upon her face. "One reason is that the thief stole the book so that they could sell it to make money for themselves. As for the second reason...*sigh* well it could be that someone on this island is dumb and desperate to find a way off of Dinotopia. Despite the danger they'll be putting themselves in later on."

"Oh dear," voiced Zippo with fear. "Who would do that?"

Tabitha took on a thoughtful expression as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I have my suspicions, but I don't want to start pointing fingers just yet. Not until I have all of the facts I need to prove I'm right about my theory."

Tabitha let out a sigh before gazing back up at Zippo again as she gave him a sad look of regret.

"For now, you'd better report this to the Mayor tomorrow. Let him know about what has happened," suggested Tabitha as Zippo only nodded at her. "Until then, let's head back home, and see if we can't whip you up some soothing tea, alright?"

"*sigh* yes," said Zippo sadly before he, Tabitha and Shorty began to walk out of the library. "You know, this isn't the first time a book has been stolen from the library."

"What do you mean?" asked Tabitha as they walked through the streets together.

"Well...The people within Waterfall City don't talk about it much these days, but a long time ago a young girl, who was probably a three years older than you, had decided to steal a book from the library. Nobody knows which book she had stolen, only that it had been important to the library at the time. It was around that time when her twin sister, Liliana, had disappeared, along with her soon to be husband."

"Somebody disappeared?" questioned Tabitha with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," replied Zippo sadly. "You see...Liliana's fiancé, Calor, had been forced into something by her sister, but nobody knew what it was. Calor had been so ashamed by what he had done that he left Waterfall City, with Liliana following after him. The last we've heard of them was that they had been seen wandering in the Rainy Basin, after that..."

"You think they might have been eaten by Tyrannosauruses?"

"That's the possible theory. After their disappearance, or deaths, Liliana's twin sister also disappeared without a trace. Nobody knew where she went. Instead they found the book that she had stolen from the library. Everyone thought that she had followed after Liliana and Calor, thus probably sharing the same fate as them."

Tabitha sadly frowned as she tucked her hands into pockets after hearing this information. "That's a sad story, Zippo."

Zippo sadly nodded his head in agreement before he spoke again. "It was a sad day for the people of Dinotopia to lose Liliana and Calor. Liliana was said to have a natural talent in healing both dinosaurs and humans, while Calor was one of the bravest Skybax riders within Dinotopia.

"What was Calor like?" asked Tabitha curiously.

"Well...he was known to have been one of the best Skybax riders within his class. He was also known for his bravery when it came to facing Tyrannosauruses that would attack traveling convoys. He was also very selfless and open minded to new possibilities, while also having a quick mind in figuring out how to get out of a tight pinch."

"He sounds like a guy who is willing to risk his life for others," said Tabitha with a soft smile on his face. "And what about Liliana, what was she like?"

"Oh...she was a kind soul and was known to be gentle of heart," answered Zippo with a fond smile upon his face. "Liliana was also known to be quite clever. She would always know what type of herb could heal a human or Dinosaur if they were sick or injured. Unlike her twin sister, who was rebellious, short tempered and preferred to do things her own way. Not to mention getting things that she wanted or catches her eye. Liliana's sister had a fondness towards Calor and had fought with her twin to win his affection, but Calor had given his heart to Liliana in the end."

"Sounds like he made the right choice," said Tabitha. "Liliana sounded like a wonderful woman and a good match for him."

"Yes," replied Zippo with a smile as they reach the door of his house. "It was tragic that Calor and Liliana had not been given the chance to wed each other."

"Yeah...I would have liked to have met them. They both sound like interesting people to talk and get along with." Tabitha said with a smile, while Shorty let out a chirp of agreement.

Zippo only nodded his head before he opened the door to his house. The trio walked through the door together before Tabitha made her was over to the table, where the 'Book of Dragons' sat. Zippo walked towards the kitchen to whip himself up some calming tea to help him with what had happened today. Tabitha sat down in the chair that was near the table with Shorty jumped down from her shoulders to land on the table. Tabitha smiled at Shorty as the little dragon looked up at her with an excited expression upon his face before she picked up the book and opened it. Tabitha began to flip through the book as she tried to look up a dragon that had the ability to disappear into thin air. After a while, Tabitha came to a page of a dragon that looked like the Night Fury. Except, this dragon was sleeker than the black dragon.

The dragon had a long single spine running down the center of its back and two few appendages on the side of its head, which were shorter and rounder then a Night Fury appendages. The dragon's head was shorter along with its mouth. The wings of the dragon were slightly shorter than a Night Fury with the tip of the wings not being sharp at the tips. Near the end of the dragon's tail were two flukes that were triangular in shape. They slightly resemble a heart and were shorter. The dragon also had two smaller triangular flukes above the main one, which were slightly hard to noticed. Tabitha raised an eyebrow at this dragon before she looked up the dragon's name.

"Light Fury," voiced Tabitha quietly to herself. "The subspecies of the Night Fury."

Tabitha let out a hum as she gazed at the picture of the dragon for a moment before she began to read about the dragon.

' _ **Light Furies are elusive and intelligent dragon that were white with a glimmering texture on its small smooth scales. It has a pink nose, a light blue chest, belly and feet. They are lighter then a Night Fury and are shorter than them. They are highly aggressive towards humans, but their trust can be slowly earned if a human saves its life. They seem to be sociable towards dragons they have grown to be friends with. Like the Night Fury, the Light Fury likes to hang upside down on a tree branch like a bat. Light Furies have the ability to turn themselves invisible by flying through a blast of their own fire, which causes their scales to heat up and take on a mirror like qualities. This cloaking ability is only temporary as it let them blend into their surroundings. They can also be seemly invisible when they fly through clouds, sea fog or over distant horizons.**_ '

' _That would mean they would be pretty easy to spot against the black surface of the night sky._ ' Tabitha thought with a frown. ' _So what kind of dragon did I see at the Sunstone Parade?_ '

Tabitha quickly noticed something written near the left side of the page and began to read it.

' ** _If a Light Fury and Night Fury mate with each other they could produce offspring's of hybrid dragons called Night Lights. To know about Night Lights, flip to page 201._** '

Tabitha quickly flipped over the page where the 'Nigh Light' would be and blinked in surprise. It was a dragon that looked like a combination of a Night Fury and a Light Fury. Tabitha turned her gaze onto the writing within the book.

' _ **Night Light**_

 _ **A hybrid dragon born from both a Night Fury and Light Fury. Night Lights have the same abilities of both their parents, but share the same features of a Night Fury. They can be born of different colors and patterns, with their eyes being either blue or green. Night Light behavior can fall somewhere in between their parents and can be quite fierce when they are protecting those who are close to them. They can also be curious about things and playful when you've earned their trust.**_ '

' _Could that have been the dragon I saw?_ ' thought Tabitha curiously.

She wasn't able wonder for long about that question when she heard the door to Zippo's home being opened. Tabitha quickly closed the book before turning her attention towards the door and saw David walking in.

"Hey, David," greeted Tabitha as she laid the book down on the table. "How was your walk around the city?"

"It was good," said David with a smile. "I was just chatting with a Dinosaur about what America was like in Saurian."

"That's great," said Tabitha with a proud smile. "You've really learned a lot here on Dinotopia, David."

"Thanks," spoke David with a chuckle. "So, are you looking forward to our graduation tomorrow?"

"Yeah, and who knows. Maybe I'll win first place in our written exam." Tabitha teased with a playful smirk on her face.

David laughed for he knew that Tabitha was only joking around with him. Tabitha laughed with him before she became quiet as a light frown appeared on her face. David noticed this before he walked around the table to stand beside her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked David.

"I'm just thinking about what will happen to us next," answered Tabitha as she looked down at the surface of the table. "You remember that we have to find a Saurian partner for ourselves, right? Well...I've been looking it up in the library and I found that when the people of Dinotopia are of age, like we are right now, they will be sent off to different parts of Dinotopia to take up habitat training. And that got me thinking...will we be separated from each other and placed somewhere else on Dinotopia?"

David lightly frowned as he thought over what his half-sister had said. Even though he and Karl didn't have much of a close bond with each other, David cared about Tabitha and the thought of being separated from her made his heart clench. Tabitha had always been by his side with him returning the favor in the process. He knelt down and placed a comforting hand on his half-sibling's arm, which had Tabitha turning her head to look at him.

"Tabitha," started David but paused as he thought over the words he wanted to say before continuing. "If it does come to that, I'm sure that our separation won't be forever. Besides, you're strong and independent so I'm sure that you can handle anything out there on the island with Shorty by your side. And I'm confident we'll get back together when we finished our habitat training."

Tabitha smiled at David before the two half-siblings wrapped each other up in a comforting hug. After a minute of hugging, Tabitha and David pulled away from each other with David nodding his head before he headed towards their bedroom. Tabitha watched him leave for a sec before going back to reading the 'Book of Dragons' to find out what other dragons were in it. She spent hours looking through the book and she was amazed at how many dragons were in it, along with the information on what they were like. Tabitha decided to stop for the night when supper came around and she joined her half-brothers at the table. After supper the three half-siblings got ready for bed for they had a big day tomorrow. But as Karl and David fell asleep, Tabitha laid awake on her bed as she stared intently at Karl with a look of suspicion on her face.

' _You're up to something Karl,_ ' thought Tabitha with a deep frown on her face. ' _I know that you're the one who stole that book from the library. The question is...who did you give it too?_ '

Tabitha glared intently at her half-brother's sleeping form for a moment before she turned over in her bed to face Shorty, who was sleeping next to her pillow. Tabitha smiled at her dragon friend as she couldn't help but think how cute Shorty was when he was sleeping. Tabitha soon closed her eyes and let sleep take her as she grew excited about her graduation tomorrow.

* * *

The day finally came as the half-siblings and the children. They were all gathered within the palace as they sat in the seats of the court room. Tabitha sat in the front row with her half-brothers, while Shorty perched on her shoulders. Many other people and dinosaurs were there as they eagerly waited to hear how the off worlders had done on their exam. Tabitha was excited, while also a little nervous about the whole thing.

' _I hope I've done a good job on my written exam,_ ' thought Tabitha to herself.

Shorty, who seemed to have sensed his friend's anxiety, gently nuzzled his head against Tabitha's right cheek.

Smiling at his actions, Tabitha raised her hand up and gently petted Shorty. She then turned her full attention back towards the front, where Marion and Zippo were standing in front of the whole court.

Marion gazed around at the audience before she began to speak. "The question we asked was perhaps the most important question any Dinotopian can be asked: How are we to live?"

Marion turned her eyes on David. "David, yours was possible the longest answer we've ever had. At seventeen pages, your argument was an exhausting one, and you're clearly not frightened to say what you believe many times in the same document, well done."

Marion then turned her gaze onto Tabitha. "Tabitha your answer to the exam was the most outstanding out of everyone else. Despite it being four pages long, your answer clearly tells of how we should all experience life to the fullest, and to never turn away from discovering new things that could help teach us how to have a better understand of ourselves."

David gave his half-sister a friendly nudge as a proud smile appeared on his face. Tabitha smiled back at David as she felt her heart swell with happiness, but that soon came crashing down at what Zippo said next.

"But perhaps the finest answer we have ever had was written by Karl."

Shock ran through Tabitha and David as they turned their eyes on Karl, who smirked at them.

"Marion will now read Karl's answer aloud for the entire assembly," announced Zippo.

Marion cleared her throat before she began to read Karl's answer. "Is this the real life? Or is it a fantasy? Caught in a landslide. No escape from reality. Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see."

"Oh, brilliant," said Zippo before he and everyone within the court began to clap.

Tabitha felt a burning anger rise up within her as Karl stood up and bowed to everyone within the court room with a smug look on his face. David glared up at his half-brother in anger and disbelief.

"That's cheating," accused David.

"Those were the lyrics from Bohemian Rhapsody!" hissed Tabitha as she gave Karl a death glare that promised pain later on.

Shorty growled as he too glared at Karl for upsetting his human friend as the half-brother sat down with a smirk. Tabitha and David shared a look with each before they turned their attention back onto Marion as they wallowed in anger.

* * *

After the assembly was over, people and dinosaurs began to walk out of the building. Zippo and Marion walked beside each other as they talked about Karl's written answer, unaware that Karl had cheated on his exam.

"Karl's answer was very inspiring, Marion," spoke Zippo with a smile.

"Yes, it was quiet special Zippo," said Marion in agreement.

"It was the way he combined 'fantasy' and 'reality' and compared it with a landslide." Zippo continued as they, along with the children, walked out of the building.

On the other side of the room, Karl was enjoying some fruits that were set out on a silver rotating tray before Tabitha and David came up to him. Tabitha was the first one to grab her half-brother's attention by slamming her hands down on the wooden table's surface. That action caused Karl to look up in surprise as he found himself staring into the blazing eyes of his little half-sister.

"You low down, no good, snake in the grass," growled Tabitha with a dangerous edge in her voice.

Karl didn't seem aware of his half-sister's anger for he only smirked in triumph. He had always one-upped his sister when it came to their exams back in high school, and he always took pleasure in seeing his sister get riled up. He also took pleasure that he had knocked David down a peg after seeing him being so cocky last night. David thought he would have the last laugh, but had winded up being blind-sided by his half-brother once again.

"Have you ever done anything in your life where you haven't cheated?" asked David in anger.

Karl chuckled in delight at his two half-sibling's anguish before he spoke.

"You've always been sore losers you two," stated Karl with a smirk.

"Hey, we've both worked hard to get through that exam!" exclaimed Tabitha as Shorty bristled on her right shoulder in anger.

"You two are taking this Dinotopia stuff way to seriously." Karl said as he began to walk away from his half-sibling, who followed behind him in anger.

"What is it you've got about this place?" questioned David in a demanding voice.

"I wouldn't know where to start," said Karl casually.

"Oh really?" said Tabitha angrily as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Then how about we start with the first item on the list of why you hate this place. Maybe it's because you're trying to blame Frank's dying on Dinotopia, huh?"

That statement got Karl's attention as he stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Tabitha in disbelief.

"Hey, leave dad out of it," said Karl in a stern voice.

"Oh, I'd be glad too," said Tabitha with a seer. "After all, let's face reality here. He pretty much left us out of his life."

"Don't talk about him like that," said Karl with a glare.

"At least you two had something in common," stepped in David as he stood beside Tabitha. "He didn't have the time of day for me."

"Wonder why that was?" questioned Karl in sarcasm as he turned and began to walk away, while hoping his half-siblings wouldn't follow him.

Unfortunately, David and Tabitha didn't back down on their verbal insults as their anger for their half-brother cheating continued full them.

"Well he pretty much dumped your mother before he dumped mine and Tabitha's." David continued as he walked behind Karl.

"David's right," said Tabitha with a glare. "He only took me in after my mother died, but I bet he was ashamed that he had to raise another kid with a woman he didn't love or care about. But after what he did to us, you still worship him and the ground he walks on."

Karl whirled around to glare at his half-siblings. "Don't talk like that!"

"I'll talk about him whatever I want!" yelled Tabitha as she stood tall in front of her half-brother before she lowered her voice. "After everything that's happen to us, I can finally say I'm relieved that I don't have Frank weighing me down and telling me what to do."

Karl stared at his half-sister in disbelief, but then David spoke as he added salt to the wound within his half-brother's heart.

"You know, without dad, I feel free," said David with an amused huff. "Kind of makes you think, doesn't it?"

Karl stared at his half-siblings in anger, but what David said next really pushed Karl over the edge.

"I'm almost glad he's gone," said David.

That was when chaos erupted. Karl grabbed David by the front of his shirt and pushed him backwards into a sculpture, which fell and smashed onto the ground. Karl shoved David to the ground before he was suddenly tackled by Tabitha, who quickly came to David's aid. Shorty had flown off from Tabitha's shoulder and was now hovering over the two half-siblings. The little dragon chirped encouraging words towards Tabitha as she swung a right-hook into Karl's left cheek. Karl let out a cry of pain before he shoved Tabitha away from him, but was tackled again by David who sent them flying towards the doors of the balcony that over looked one of the waterfalls. The doors to the balcony flew open at the half-brothers suddenly force before as the two of them landed on the stone floor. Tabitha quickly ran out after them and saw David pinning Karl to the ground, while delivering a punch to his half-brother's face. Karl retaliated by punching his right fist into David's stomach before flipping them over so that he was on top of his half-brother. Tabitha shot forward and tackled Karl off of David and pinned him to the ground. She then raised her fist and delivered three punches to Karl's face, before Karl punched her across the left cheek. Tabitha yelped in pain before Karl flipped her off of him and pinned her to the ground. Karl was about to punch her again before Shorty suddenly dived bombed him and began to claw at his arm. That distraction caused Karl to loosen his grip on Tabitha, who quickly punched him in the gut, before he was suddenly pulled off of her by David. The two half-brothers gripped at each other's shirts as they struggled to throw each other to the ground.

Tabitha had gathered her wits together before she shot forward and tackled into both of her half-brothers. But the force of her tackle sent all three of them flying over the railing of the balcony and falling over the falls as they all let out screams of terror. Shorty let out a worried screech and was about to go into a dive when suddenly a black and white blur flew down and passed him. Shorty hovered in surprise for a moment before he quickly flew after the black and white blur as he followed it down towards the river. Halfway down, Shorty saw the blur dive into the depths of the river before it shot out of it again a second later. When the blur appeared in front of Shorty, the little dragon squawked in shock and surprise.

The black and white blur was a young adult Night Light that held Tabitha's unconscious form in its front legs. The young Night Light had the body shape and figure of a Night Fury, but had the slim figure of a Light Fury. The top half of the Night Light's body was covered in black scales, along with its legs, but the underside of the Night Light was white with a soft shade of blue. There was white on its chest and belly, which stretched out underneath its tail before ending halfway down. A white four pointed star marking sat on its forehead and a thin white strip ran down its back to the tip of its tail. On each side of the Night Light's head were two appendages that were slightly rounded along the edges. It had a set of small spines running down the top of its head, while a long single spine ran down the middle of its back. Sprinkled underneath the Night Light's two wings were tiny white dots, which seemed to sparkle like stars against the dark background. Another unique feature about the Night Light was its eyes. The Night Light's left eye was a bright forest green, while its right eye was a deep aqua blue.

Shorty stared up at the Night Light in astonishment before the larger dragon let out a croon as it looked down at Tabitha's unconscious form within its arms. It then looked at Shorty before it gestured with its head for him to follow it before it slowly flew towards the Rainy Basin. Shorty quickly followed after the Night Light with a determined expression upon his face. He had to make sure that he didn't lose sight of the Night Light that was carrying away his friend away from Waterfall City.

To be continued

And here you go, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

White Hunter, howling out to you and creativity!


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